Anouk Willemsen (2014)
I conducted interviews with 13 people in and around Istanbul about their experiences 're-migrating' from the Netherlands to Turkey - this was for my master thesis.
The fact that the NIT could support me made me decide that I should undertake this project. Without this support I wouldn't have had the confidence in myself that I could do it - both financially and personally.
During my stay at the NIT (March 2014) and conducting the interviews, if fell in love with Istanbul. I returned shortly afterwards, in the summer of 2014, to do an Erasmus semester at Bogazici University. After this semester I found an internship at the Netherlands consulate-general in Istanbul. From July on, I will be working as secretary of the consulate general for 3 months. At the same time I am finishing my master Islamic Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen. My stay at NIT thus had a huge impact on both my personal and professional life.