Petra uit Slowakije liep stage bij YourSurprise

“Hey everyone! My name is Petra Hlozna and I am from Slovakia. As a fourth year International Business student, I recently defended my graduation thesis. I studied International Business at HZ University of Applied Sciences in Vlissingen. This bachelor’s degree program included major business courses and Business English education. As part of my studies, I chose to focus on two extra foreign languages – Spanish and German.

Cute province

Before making the final decision to live and study in Zeeland, I attended an Open Day at my university. Before this event, I honestly did not know that much about Zeeland itself, but after one weekend spent in Zeeland I quickly fell in love with this cute province.

Living by the sea

It was my interest in the study program that HZ university offered, combined with how excited I felt about the lifestyle that Zeeland had to offer. Living by the sea in a small and beautiful city where everybody is friendly has its own special magic! If I were to choose again, I would definitely make the exact same choice. I really truly enjoyed every second of my student life in Zeeland and I made life-long friendships.

YourSurprise

I spent my final internship with the ecommerce team at YourSurprise in Zierikzee, where I worked on optimizing the Slovak website. Spending my internship there was an incredible experience full of learning. In my internship role, I was responsible for improving the Slovak website, making it more relevant and interesting for the users, creating relevant website content, increasing brand awareness within the Slovak market and a lot more! Apart from the tasks related to the Slovak market, I was able to practice my Spanish while I assisted the Spanish customer service team during the peak periods. Every day of my internship was different, which I enjoyed a lot. There are quite a few international companies in Zeeland, so I think it should be possible for everyone to find a nice internship in this province. I really had fun working with my colleagues, and there was so much to learn, so I was always looking forward to every new workday.

Tips and advice

Before the Corona crisis struck, I was able to take part in several company events. These events were great as I was able to get to know my international as well as local colleagues better than just from behind the work desk. It is worth mentioning that I enjoyed talking to my local Dutch colleagues as they see Zeeland in a different way than international students – they always shared something new about Zeeland with me, including a lot of useful tips and advice.

Memories

Just in general spending time with my international friends, cooking for each other, organizing different gatherings where everyone was always welcome to join. These friends turned into family and they will always be special to me, even though now we’re spread all around the world, either working in international companies or continuing with Master studies.”