Carmen Rasmusen
Leisure Manager Student
'Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.'
- Oscar Wilde
Carmen | 22 years old
I was born in Switzerland, grew up in a small country named Luxembourg and have exactly 4 nationalities:
Swiss | Luxembourgish | Dutch | Kiwi
I have a difficult cultural background but that's what makes me stand out and not to forget to I have 3 brothers, growing up with them was not always easy.
Therefore, I understand many cultures and I am always willing to learn more about them. In my previous study I studied art and now I moved on to another field, leisure management. I am open for new and different things.
I think leisure has a huge impact on everybody's lives and to create existing or new opportunities for everyone, even in the direction of music and event, since this brings people joy and bonds people, in fact music has a lot do to with emotions and personality. Everyone has their own taste.
Who am I?
Cultural background | Lifestyle
While I grew up in Luxembourg I noticed that we have a different mentality than the Luxembourgish locals although we lived basically all our lives, perhaps because my family has so many different cultural background and spread all over the world. I believe that, we are generally not so focused on the problems people have, we think more positively and try to do the best out of any situations. My family’s values are based on relationship, happiness, health, careness and friendship. I think it is important to be happy with what you have and appreciate as much as you can and show who you are and not someone else. Many friends have told me before that I act different but not in a negative way, I have a different way of thinking and solving problems. My attitude comes a lot from the New Zealand culture, because there they are more laid back and enjoy life. Whereas people in Luxembourg are focused a lot more on what they own and like to show off with their precious things. I believe that growing up with family from all over the place, broadens networks, open to more cultures and willing to learn from others.
Happiness | Health | Careness | Creativity | Friendship | Trust | Freedom | Understanding
>> are values I believe are important to me and to share with your friends and family. These values can be shown in your personality and therefore I find it important to spread your positive vibe to others.
My passion is design, if art, music or fashion. Use your creativity. People all have a different sense of creativity and I have my own too. My interest is to combine these all and show it by orgnizing events.
Valus, Interest
& Passion
I'm interested in inspirational and unique things, not just in events but also in art and music or even people who have another mind set is always my source of inspiration.
Nelson Mandela is an inspiration for all. I believe that he is the ideal idol for me as he was an amazing leader who shows dedication, inspiration and his vision to change. He encouraged people to take action and motivated others to accept who are different.
Experiences & Developments
I have learnt a lot in the past years in many aspects. I am not as shy towards people anymore and also take much more responsibility and initiatives. An example where I finally started finding myself in the field of events was when I lead my high school committee prom night, actually I initiated the event for the first time ever. I tought it was a pity and through my willingness and strong desire to make such an event happen at our school, I was able to pull together a group of people to form a committee and create a successful Prom night. The school has continued to organize this event at the end of each school year since I brought it to life. This experience showed me that I am able to come up with ideas and that I am able to arrange and coordinate an event which people enjoy. Furthermore, my brother has managed an annual music festival in Luxembourg, where I have been able to assist together with an organization team some of the preparatory work. This event gave me insight in the backstage area as well as I was proudly the designer of the flyer, poster, tickets and sponsoring catalogue.
In Breda, I currently work for an event company 'Broeikas' that creates deep house and techno music events in Breda and recently expended in other student cities in the Netherlands. My area is the communication and concepting of event as well as promotion such as flyering. Even though I play a small part in this company, I enjoy creating exciting events for people. I am very eager and enthusiastic to learn more and I want to adapt myself in an industry that is innovating and continually evolving.
In my 2nd year of my leisure studies, I was a member of the ILM Committee, we organized 5 parties, round table meetings, small activities, and the annual fieldtrip. The role was the secretary, taking care of all communication going in and out of the committee and planning the meetings through many e-mails. I've been noticing more and more how efficient it is for communication, organization, delegation and good planning so that events can come together.
My social and communication skills have improved. I find it important to have good effective communication skills, it is the key to the development of a strong social support network. In my point of view, this skill is not genetically transferred but it is learned through practice and error. Also interacting with people is highly crucial as you get to know other people’s perspectives and not just ones own view but try to understand and see another’s as well. It may be more efficient being open to other’s ideas when working with others on one project, having this skill helps to accept other people’s ideas, values and their thoughts too.