Luuking Good USE students had the opportunity
to vote for the teacher talent award. The close race between Peter Angelov, Anna Salomons and Luuk Rietvelt ended with the latter taking this coveted award. I interviewed Luuk to better understand what makes him tick. Q: What and where did you study? A: I studied here in Utrecht, Economics and Business. I did a minor in law and a track in business management and my major focus was in business. Q: Why USE? A: When I finished high school I was not sure whether I wanted to do law or economics. I liked many things and here in Utrecht I was offered to do both economics and business, combining it with law. Plus I also like Utrecht because it allows one to determine the study path one prefers, much like in America. Q: Did you consider yourself to be a good student? A: I really tried to read before the lectures, prepared for the tutorials and made sure I didn’t forget anything before the exam. I think I was a very quiet student. I was a student that sat there, listened carefully and had my questions from time to time. My talking skills developed
By Sofia Monshouwer
through the last couple of years as a teacher. Q: Why, once you graduated, didn’t you work in the private sector? A: First I had the feeling that not all the material that was taught to me I could work with. Second, when I was a student I was also teaching, it was fun. And third, I like working with students. Another main reason for my choice was that I ran into this job offer, and having talked to some junior teachers while I was a student, I saw opportunities in teaching first and then going to the private sector. Q: What kind of students annoy you the most? A: I don’t think I’ve run into that type of student yet. Though what annoys me is when a group doesn’t have its day. When they are not really responding to questions, because most often they are not prepared. Also when people give an answer, but do not know why. That makes it really difficult for a teacher. The ‘why’ is the most important question for the academic world. I don’t think any students in particular are very annoying, but I really get annoyed when students write in the anonymous surveys that they didn’t get a chance to ask their questions, that the material and book were too difficult, and that they didn’t like the effort require
ment. I want people to be fair. I want them to be honest and not just go with how they think things ought to be done without giving concrete reasons for why it is the case. We are in an academic world so one should speak one’s mind constructively, then we can do something. Q: Are you working on any research right now? A: Yes, I focus on what determines the performance of a first year student, looking at what kind of students we admit and finding characteristics within Utrecht university students that made them succeed. I am also involved in research for marketing with Peter O. van der Meer. We are working on a study which seeks to find out what competencies marketing managers are looking for in marketing students. After doing this research on the Dutch level, we want to take this to a more international level.
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