Life@AMSIB - Rahil Dave

During his first year at AMSIB, Rahil joined as a Program Committee member and now in his second year, Rahil has become the Chair of the Committee. The Program Committee gives students a voice to say what they feel is going on in the classroom and contribute their ideas and improvements. Every first Monday of the month, the Program Committee meets with the Dean and the management team of AMSIB to discuss ideas on how to improve the quality of education, issues that some modules are facing, enhancing module evaluations, and much more. Having conversations with lecturers and analysing their courses with them to figure out together how and where tubes improve them is a vital part of this process.

Rahil is a big advocate of “if you want something in life, ask for it and if you don’t speak, nothing is going to happen“. If students feel there is something they wish would improve at our campus, Rahil says that it is their responsibility to speak up about it. Either through the model evaluations, through talking to lecturers, or reaching out to someone from the Program Committee.

Simultaneously, as a student assistant, Rahil’s job is to ensure that first-year students have guidance around campus and through the beginning of their courses. Rahil himself found a lot of comfort with his student assistant, having the possibility to ask questions to someone who has been in the same shoes and is supporting students in getting a good start at AMSIB. Having someone who shows you what to expect, can provide a lot of clarity to students and helps them in feeling less anxious. That is also the reason Rahil became a student assistant, to be able to give back to the AMSIB community.

Balancing his studies, being the chair of the Program Committee, tutoring other students, and being a student assistant, is not always the easiest. Rahil believes that the key to having peace of mind is to balance stress. He lives by to-do lists, structuring and organising his work and private life. When he has fun, he only has fun and is not doing any work at that point. So when he is working or studying, Rahil tries to entirely focus on work and studying at that point in time. Giving any task his undivided attention, he feels he can do it quicker and better than multitasking multiple things simultaneously.

But how exactly does Rahil manage his time and what could we learn from him? He explained that from his experience, people who are very busy tend to procrastinate quite a lot. Rahil looks at procrastination from a different angle than many others, as he started to do productive procrastination. You might wonder what he means by that, well, when Rahil procrastinates, he is not going through TikTok or Instagram anymore, but completing small and easy tasks he has to do anyways, like putting the dishes in the dishwasher. Get the small things out of the way to build momentum. Once he builds momentum and gets in the zone, Rahil describes how he becomes an “unstoppable academic weapon”.

After being in the army, Rahil originally wanted to go to the US for his studies, as most of his relatives did. But he wasn’t necessarily keen on going there. While preparing for his SATs, he talked to his uncle whose friends’ son went to AMSIB. That is how Rahil primarily heard

about the programme. As he has been to Amsterdam before and loved it, he applied to AMSIB and has enjoyed living and studying here ever since. Living on his own is very different from what Rahil was used to, as he who is a very social person, and lived very close to his family back in Singapore. Also, the Dutch culture is very different from the culture in Singapore. Yet, Rahil mentions that it was easy for him to adjust because of his international background and his time in the army, where he lived with 16 guys who come from different backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, and beliefs.

What runs like a thread through Rahil's life is his social vein and his need and joy in helping others. Be it during his time in the army, as chair of the Program Committee, as a student assistant, or as a tutor. The overarching theme in Rahil's life is to help others and improve their lives. He can see himself becoming a life coach or business coach in the future. This also aligns with his responsibilities as a student assistant, as chair of the Program Committee, and as a tutor. Rahil gets a lot of satisfaction from seeing how others profit from his help and how he can help make their lives easier in one way or another. So if you need advice regarding your studies at AMSIB, a tutor, or want to share your experience at AMSIB and ideas for improvement with someone, Rahil is the person to talk to.

Thank you, Rahil, for being a valuable member of our AMSIB community.