Hi, my name’s Monique Parfitt and I’m a second-year Advanced Technology student. You can follow me here on the Bachelor’s site and find out what it’s like to study Advanced Technology. Every now and then I’ll post new pictures and stories of whatever I am working on or some of my hobbies. But first, let me tell you a little bit about myself, so that you can get to know me!

I used to live in Heemstede, a town near Haarlem, but when I realised Advanced Technology was the perfect degree programme for me, I decided to move to Enschede. Now I live in a big student house on campus. Sixteen of us live together in the flat, all of us students of different ages and doing various degrees.

Advanced Technology

Maybe you’re wondering what made me choose Advanced Technology and not one of the other degree programmes in Enschede, or maybe even somewhere else! Well, I really couldn’t find the right programme for me when I was at secondary school. I ordered loads of different kinds of brochures of almost every programme you can imagine, but I just couldn’t find ‘the one’. I liked them all, but there was never that spark of recognition that made me think ‘this is it for me’. So I had to limit my demands, but I wasn’t capable of doing this on my own. So, my parents sent me off to do a test which would give me recommendations about what kind of studies would suit me, on the basis of my capabilities and interests. The test results indicated that there wasn’t anything specific that I really liked, but there were some things I disliked. The results recommended I do something technical, because apparently – even though my grades in secondary school didn’t reflect this – I’m technically-minded. So, I started to look at different technical degree programmes, but they all specialised right from the start…

Meeloopdag

So, then I went to a so-called ‘meeloopdag’ (orientation day) at Technical Medicine. I liked it, because I’d always been fascinated by the human body, but I still wasn’t entirely sure. I wanted to take another look at Twente University, but I decided to have a look at a different programme, in this case, Advanced Technology. And then it happened, the spark that ignited the flame!
On the one hand, it’s a very technical degree, and almost every kind of technical aspect is covered. On the other hand, some technical issues are also presented from a social perspective. So, you learn about technologies and you get loads of maths and physics. But you also get courses which teach you how to implement technology in society, or even how to set up your own business if you develop a new technology! The combination of technical and social courses and the broad, yet consolidated approach to almost everything was perfect for me, because I just wanted to learn about everything!

So that’s how I ended up here. I absolutely love it and it’s exactly what I expected!