From Rotterdam to Barcelona: ESEI Alumni Loulou Buijk on Short Courses, career pivots and saying yes

The decision to come to Barcelona

Loulou Buijk is 25, originally from Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and graduated in 2024 from a Dutch university with a degree in Business Innovation, a course she describes as being rooted in sustainability and practical, hands-on learning. After graduation, she found herself at a crossroads that many graduates will recognise. “I remember thinking, okay, so what comes next?”

The answer came through a fellow student named Stephanie Smarius, who had graduated a year earlier and gone on to study a master’s at ESEI International Business School in Barcelona. Seeing Stephanie’s experience inspired Loulou to find out more, and she applied for ESEI’s Strategic Marketing and PR short course, and started in March. The course ran for two months.

Barcelona was not a random choice. She had already done an internship in Madrid, but Barcelona was still a place she had always hoped to live. “I had a strong feeling it would bring me a lot,” she says. The short course gave her the push she needed to finally make it happen.

Life in Barcelona: more than a classroom

While studying at ESEI, Loulou also worked at Blu Selection, a recruitment agency that specialises in placing international candidates in jobs abroad. The combination of studying and working gave her a full picture of what life in Barcelona looked like.

She also became part of the ESEI community in the way that tends to stick with people long after they leave. The induction days at ESEI made it easy to meet people quickly, and the school gave students genuine opportunities to contribute, including content creation for social media with the ESEI Content Creators Club. “It was really nice that ESEI gave people the chance to discover making content without very strict rules,” she says. “It was more about sharing what you personally liked about Barcelona and turning that into content, which made it really enjoyable.”

When her short course finished, Loulou was not ready to leave. She stayed in Barcelona for an extra month before eventually heading back to the Netherlands.

What she took home from the course

Loulou is clear that the short course gave her more than she expected, though perhaps not in the ways she had anticipated.

The subject matter itself, PR and strategic marketing, was genuinely useful. The course was practical rather than theoretical, built around real projects rather than textbooks. Students learned how to position a brand, how to conduct research, and how to bring a campaign together from scratch.

But what stayed with her most were the soft skills she says, “Working together on group projects and learning how to collaborate with different people. I had already done that during my bachelor’s, but it was really valuable to experience it with international students, because you truly notice the differences.”

Working alongside students from different countries brought something her Dutch degree had not fully prepared her for: the experience of combining different strengths across cultures. “Everyone contributes something different, and when you combine those qualities, the result becomes much stronger.”

Her advice for current students

Ask Loulou what she would tell someone arriving at ESEI today and she does not hesitate.

“Just say yes to opportunities. Discover new places, meet new people, and step outside what you already know. It’s the perfect time to explore and figure out what really matters to you.”

But beyond the adventure, she has something more specific to say about the connections students make abroad. “Many of my contacts now, and I see this also in my work, are international people I met during my time abroad.You already share something: you both took the leap to move to another country or city. That creates the strongest connections and the most meaningful relationships.”

Explore ESEI’s Programmes

👉 If you’re considering starting your own journey in Barcelona, explore ESEI’s Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes and see how we can support you on your study abroad journey.