Golchin applied at the TU/e in 2007 after she heard good things about this university from an Iranian friend who is a PhD student here. “I have worked for a number of Iranian consultant engineering companies as a process engineer. I also worked as a technical manager for my father’s plastics manufacturing company. Just for the record, my mom works too. She is the manager of coordinating and programming IT centers for the municipality of Tehran. My aunt is a civil engineer and has a high position in Iranian water management. More women attend university in Iran than men”, she says.

“I wanted to deepen my knowledge of the process engineering field and get some international life experience. Travelling and living abroad helps anybody to improve their social skills. You get stronger in yourself. When you change your life this much it helps you know yourself better”, she explains.

“But it’s still quite a challenge. Of course I miss my family, it’s not easy living alone when you’re used to having an extended family around. I now live with an Iranian friend who has helped me a lot. I’m learning about western and Dutch culture. Here you have a more individual life. It can be an advantage because you’re freer to have your own ideas. But you miss out on sharing with others. I think we pay more attention to each other in Iran.”

“I always want to know about other cultures. My dad studied Sociology and he always encourages my sister and me to learn about other cultures. My father doesn’t have a problem in letting me study here. He says he has confidence in the way he brought me up and that I should behave according to my conscience. I have my own standards, but I won’t judge anybody else for how they live.”

Balance
Golchin is now settled in and feels happy with her life here. Initially, she had a hard time finding her way at the TU/e. She says she has since found a better balance between studying and her personal life, partly by taking part in extracurricular activities. She also found valuable help at the STU International Relations Office. “I think the head of STU dr. Karen Ali and her team are doing good work. When Karen got to know about my difficulties she was very active in helping me. I think they’ve been paying more attention to internationalization in the last year or so”, she comments.

Sogol Golchin also joined the Chemical Engineering debating society Promotheus and will be giving a presentation on Iran at one of the next activities, where there will also be presentations on three other countries. “Some people think Iran is a desert. Not true. And we are not all political activists. There are restrictions, but we all get on with our lives. I hope for a better future for Iran now reformists and young people are gaining more influence.”

People person
“I’ve just started my graduation project in the reactor engineering group and am contributing to my coordinator Jovan Jovanovic’s PhD research. I’m doing literature research and experiments in the lab. I’m interested in a lot of things. I like maths. But I’m also interested in psychology and how people react in the workplace. Process engineering is not only about processes but also about people.”

“One of things I like about this university and my Department is the way they cooperate with industry on research. That is a nice idea for Iran. My university in Teheran is much more theoretical in orientation than the TU/e. I want to work for a better future for Iran and I will always remember the Netherlands as the place where I learned these things.”/.