At IE University, we look for students who bring diversity of experience and thought to the table. We select students with creative and open minds who wish to share and learn as much as possible, making the educational journey as enriching as can be. That’s why Nivedita Huple, a third-year student in the Bachelor of Architectural Studies, was an obvious choice for the IE Collaboration Award—and the perfect representative of our institution.
A diversity-packed upbringing
Nivedita spent the first nine years of her life in India before picking up and moving across the globe to Germany, where she remained for another nine years. But when Nivedita turned 18, she was faced with a big decision. Her father had moved to Spain, and she was to relocate there too, if she wanted to attend college.
Before choosing a university, she had some more pressing questions to answer. First thing’s first: what did she want to study? Nivedita says she landed on Architecture because “it seemed to have the right balance between arts and science, creativity and logic, and theory and practicality. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities.”
Now that she knew her academic path, it was time to apply to schools. Nivedita first heard about IE University through its representatives, when they visited her school in Germany several times. After hearing what the university had to offer, she says that the decision was “simple.” The next chapter of her journey would take her to Segovia, Spain.
Becoming a collaborator
Attending university is an enormous investment, both financially and in terms of time and energy, and that investment comes easier to some more than others. For Nivedita, a scholarship was “always a necessity, not only in terms of money but also feeling that I needed to help out with my own education.” When looking for scholarships, she found the IE Collaboration Award, and it quickly became her first choice.
First of all, she knew the award would require her to put in a lot of work and effort. This was appealing to her because she was eager to learn as much as possible during her time in college, and by participating in events at IE University as a student ambassador, she was guaranteed a fulfilling learning experience.
Secondly, it made sense to commit to activities that didn’t overlap with her studies. “As an ambassador, the time commitment isn’t that tough because all our events are already scheduled, so we know exactly what to expect and when. […] Since all the events happen on weekends, they don’t actually interfere with our working days or classes, but we have to ensure we’re not leaving a lot of our assignments or studies for the weekends.”
Nivedita, student ambassador
Once she had her mind made up, Nivedita submitted all her documents to apply for the IE Collaboration Award. Before she knew it, she was accepted.
The program has given this bright, young architecture student the opportunity to meet and network with other collaborators at exciting events held at IE University, such as the Open Days, Open Houses, and IEU Experiences. In her third (and current) year in the program, she has served as the Open House coordinator, along with a few other peers, meaning she’s responsible for planning all open houses for the school.
In this role, Nivedita has gained insider knowledge on how the university structure works. She has learned about large-scale event planning, and she’s also become well-versed in different channels of communication—something that will come in handy come graduation. Finally, the experience has shown her the importance of knowing how to properly present yourself, whether you’re representing your university, your company, or yourself.
Nivedita’s advice for future collaborators? “The most important part is to be yourself and have some fun along the way. Through all these events, you meet prospective students and their parents, you have chats with them, you play games and get to know each other. For all of this, making the effort to communicate openly and clearly means the whole experience becomes more enjoyable and productive.”
