Her school journey took her from EPB to EPI and HBO. Today she is a professional, partner and mother with her life formed in the Netherlands, but it wasn't easy. Like many students, Dayensee also had challenging moments and for this reason, she wants to motivate students that, no matter how difficult it can be during your studies, it is possible to finish successfully, and she is proof of this.
I finished Fatima college, and entered EPB Santa Cruz level 2. Then I went down a level, to level 3, not because I didn't know, but the lessons were so easy that I didn't pay attention to learn and honestly I wasn't worried. I just wanted to be a teenager and peer pressure was more important to me than learning. After Epb Santa Cruz I went to Epb Hato, I entered level 3, graduated and went to level 2, graduated and went to level 1. When I finished EPB Hato I had a goal to work at Casa Cuna, but I realized that I needed to finish MBO to be able to work there. At EPB, I was a student who didn't keep quiet. I participated in various events for the school, the queen election in 2007 of which I was crowned queen. At that time I was offered to go for Miss Teen 2006, then for Carnival Queen, and even Miss Aruba. I said no to all these opportunities. Financially we didn't have the means. At the same time, I felt at the time that I wasn't ready for these challenges. Today I wish I could have told myself; go for it, you can do it, money isn't everything.
Then I continued to EPI, where I was a more serious student. I was very concentrated on finishing school, while also being a teenager (that comes with it). I graduated without a problem and I was the best graduate at level 3. After level 3 I started to have the desire to work at Casa Cuna or go to the Netherlands, but studying in the Netherlands seemed so impossible because, among other things, my Dutch wasn't good, and I was very scared of being in such a large place and "alone". I love my Aruba, but I always felt that I liked to discover what's out there. I managed to go to level 4 and at the same time I started focusing on working at Casa Cuna (my dream job). I did an internship there so I could gain experience working there. In level 4 I failed with a 5.4 on my exam. At that time the only thing I heard was, we can't do anything more for you, you've failed. Those words 'lit a fire' in me, it was as if they gave me the motivation I was lacking to make it and show everyone that I would go far. This will not be the last word and final destination.
I paid the full school fee, and I went to school, I think, fully in the school year 5 to 6 times to get an extra lesson with the group that also failed. We were coached by a teacher who still holds a special place in my heart to this day. Teacher Rosanne Pietersz, just like another teacher who I can't forget to this day, Teacher Roslin Kock. During the time I was going to school, I was working at a daycare during the day, and also at Casa Cuna as a substitute, some days I had double shifts. When the time came to take my exam again I was determined to pass and go to the Netherlands, even though the fear was still very big. To my surprise, I passed with a 10 on my exam and what I heard was; we kept looking at your exam and it really is a 10. I myself could not believe it. To fail by one-tenth of a point, and then to pass with a 10. I finished my 2 jobs and came to the Netherlands in 2014.
I studied at Fontys Hogeschool Tilburg. I was the only foreign student in the class. As far as I remember at school, throughout my training it was me and another young woman who were the only ones from abroad. I struggled quite a bit in the first year for various reasons; the Dutch language, the place that was strange to me, the climate, the way of dressing, missing my parents, friends, not being able to express myself. I am a person who likes to talk, and the language was so difficult that I preferred to stay quiet rather than speak and make mistakes. In my first period, all my lessons were adequate, I had a lot of help from people who were reviewing my reports. For my second period, everything was inadequate. I was very homesick and I was feeling depression, more so since it was also December. I remember it was a Thursday and I cried so much that I told my partner that I couldn't take it anymore and I was going to Aruba.
"The Netherlands is not for me," I told him. I was determined to go to Aruba that very weekend and leave everything behind. His word was: "You know we came for a purpose. We sold everything in Aruba, and just for a few failures, you want to throw all your dreams away? Leave if you want to and I hope you won't regret it", he told me. I remember telling myself that I will try for one more period and if my re-examination goes badly, I will really go to Aruba. I gave up everything I had, because I wanted to test myself to see if I could do it, yes or no. To my surprise, my re-examination went well and I also passed my period 3 with sufficient grades. That is more than 10+- tests done in 1 period which is about 8 to 9 weeks (as far as I can remember).
Period 4 is the last period of the year and which I also passed, and so I achieved my propedeuse. Once you achieve this, they can't just remove you from school. My first year, I made myself a dictionary to learn difficult words in Dutch and I spent 90% of my first year in my room studying. All my classmates were tripping, enjoying life, and I was making summaries (I still have all of them). My student room was smaller than my child's room. To this day, I don't know how I spent 1 year ''locked'' in there.
I completed my 2nd, 3rd and 4th year successfully, re-examinations were minimal, and in the Netherlands I never had to repeat a year. At the moment of graduation, I found out that I had a failing grade and I had 2 days to hand in the exam. I sat for a full day with my Dutch teacher to go through word by word, so not one was wrong. It was a moment of distress, because my parents and in-laws were already there for my graduation. To my surprise, I passed my exam and graduated. When I signed my paper, I remember bursting into tears, because I achieved something that for me seemed almost impossible.
Not all students succeed in 4 years. You have a lot of pressure from the debt you are accumulating, and which you have to pay back, whether you succeed or not. After my first year at Fontys, I enjoyed life a little more. I moved to an apartment with my partner. We managed to get our cars to make our lives a little easier. I managed to make more friends and that made me less locked up at home.
When I finished my HBO (Higher Professional Education), I worked in a daycare center for 5 months and then I applied and got a job where I am working now. I have been a Pedagogue/Youth Care Worker for 5 years already. My work involves working with psychologists, teachers, and behavioral scientists from different municipalities, different organizations, schools, and families. My clients are people with ADHD, ADD, autism, or gifted. I love my job. Every day is different and educational. Today, I am a mother of a beautiful almost 2-year-old girl, wife to my partner for almost 15 years, and living almost 10 years in the Netherlands. Every day I learn something new, and I like to keep learning. I don't know what's next for me, my biggest dream is to one day become a Psychologist or work with juvenile detainees or something to do with the field of trauma processing. But for now, I am enjoying being a mother, that for me is my priority and my only goal; to be the best mom for my child.
Remember this: "Losers never win and winners never lose.“
You cannot become who you want to be by remaining who you are.
With love,
Dayensee Vrolijk
Built with Shorthand