By: Mohammad Kafina

Naomi ‘t Hart (21) comes originally from Leiden. When Naomi was 5 years old, she moved with her family to Australia before moving back to the Netherlands when she was 11 years old. Identity is an important issue for her as she is a part of identical twins.

When Naomi was weighing options to follow a university study program, she felt connected to fashion and branding. At that time, she believed that fashion is an illustration of identity. For that reason, she started following the study program “International Fashion & Branding” at Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI) three years ago. However, time flies, and many surprising changes might reshape your thoughts. After three years of following her study, another idea came into Naomi’s mind: “Indeed, fashion can sometimes be amazing to show your identity, but it can also very deceiving.”

As Naomi loves writing, reading, and listening, she thought that journalism would be an interesting topic for her. That’s why she started this semester following the minor ‘International Journalism’ by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. “I like the idea of being given a topic to research it and to dive into it.”

Naomi, who will turn 21 years old in two weeks, believes that the curriculum of secondary schools in the Netherlands is very limiting. The focus lays on Dutch and maths instead of skills that people need to learn how to listen to each other and to build a more open society. That’s why the system needs to be fixed.

When Naomi talks about the future, her eyes twinkle. She plans to follow at least one master’s program. When it comes to making predictions about work, things become harder. In five years, she will probably have her first job, which will be in communications. She does not know if this job will be focused on internal communications or external communications. However, she believes that writing an interesting option.