showcase

Showcase
Name: Mieke Butzelaar
Student Number: 4782852
Atelier: Culinary Creators
NHL Stenden University of Applied sciences
Date: 25-6-2021
1

Introduction:
This showcase is heavily inspired by the children’s book The very hungry caterpillar by Eric
Carle. (2001) I got it all the images from slideshare. (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, n.d.)The idea is
that in the original story the caterpillar eats until it becomes a butterfly. I thought I could do
the same, but instead of consuming food it is knowledge through experience. So every fruit is
an experience.
Carle, E. (2001). The Very Hungry Caterpillar [E-book]. Adfo Books. Retrieved on 25 th of
June 2021, https://books.google.nl/books?id=2CxcAAAACAAJ
The Very Hungry Caterpillar. (n.d.). Slideshare. Retrieved on 25th of June 2021,
https://www.slideshare.net/samanthamorris211/the-very-hungry-caterpillar-7574597
2

In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf.
Hello, my name is Mieke. In September 2020 I started at the
NHL Stenden university of applied sciences a study named
International hospitality management. At the time when I
started my study I was 18 years old, now I am almost 19. I
am born on the 2 nd of July. I started living in Leeuwarden in
June 2020 to already form a life outside of my study.
My Hobbies are drawing, rollerblading and reading. They
are kind of hobbies that you would typically do alone, but
that is not to say I am not a social person. There is a time and place to be with people and there is a
time and place to be on my own, I find. The nice thing I find in reading is that, first of all you get lost in
so many lifelines. And from every story there is something to learn. In high school I preferred Dutch
books, but since I have transitioned to preferring English. It also helps a lot with my language skill. Plus,
most books I was reading already had the original book written in English, I find that the story is better
written in its original. As for rollerblading, I can really let my thoughts lose when the road is endless
kilometers ahead. In the beginning of the pandemic when I still lived with my dad I used to skate around
50 Km a day.
As said earlier, before my study I took a gap year. I took that year for personal development. When I
graduated I had just turned 17 and I felt not ready to live on my own far away from home. That is not
too say I did nothing that year. I took a job at Fletcher wellness hotel in Leiden as a waitress in
restaurant Twelve. While I already knew I wanted to do the hospitality study, working in the actual
field confirmed for me that I had found out what I wanted to do in the future. Aside from my job that
I worked at 4 days a week, I also did an accounting study at the Boekhoud college Amsterdam. I did
this knowing that finance is a difficult subject for many students in the hospitality study and I wanted
to build up a little head start. I actually enjoyed the lessons, going every week to college made sure I
did not forget how to plan and study. I also got a diploma in the basic understanding of accounting.
I would describe myself as a hardworking driving person who always gives her best. It may take me a
while to be able to think efficiently, but motivation is never lacking. It is important for me that every
person can act civil with each other. While it is everyone’s wish to have all the people get along with
each other, it is just not realistic. There will always people who will not like each other, not because
one person is an awful person but they just do not mix. As someone who has always had an high EQ, I
take this into consideration and make sure to always show my best behavior to everyone to avoid
conflict. That is not to say I am a pushover, I am very assertive when I need to. But In general I always
try to look at both sides of the story, to understand everyone better. This also helps a lot in my work
field.
3

One summer morning the warm sun came up and – POP! – out
of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.
Summer job
In the summer of 2020 I moved to Leeuwarden without any connections or people I knew. On top of
that it was in corona times, meaning there were not as many opportunities to meet people as usual.
After one month of living there and being settled in with everything I started looking for a job. With
corona numbers going down the restaurants and terraces opened again. I thought it would be good
for me to get to know the city through work and to make connections with colleague’s. I quite literally
walked to every restaurant with CV in my hand asking if they still needed people. In the end I got hired
at Bosporus. A Turkish restaurant on the Nieuwestad street.
Apparently there was a staff shortage and they were in dire need of new employees. The first thing I
noticed was that it was very disorganized. While everyone was nice and we worked well together,
there was no system for who did what. That was not very efficient. A lot of the time I multitasked 3
tasks at the same time: running food, taking in orders and bringing drinks. We also did not work in
stations on who did what tables. Luckily, short after starting there they hired a manager, Sam, who
installed order. The reason why I did not try to do that myself is because I thought it was not my place
as someone who just started working there as a simple waitress. I felt like if I tried to lead the other
employees, they would get mad.
If I were to be in that same situation now, I would have done something. Maybe not directly in giving
actual orders to the other employees. Rather giving suggestions at the beginning of the shift. Overview
how many employees are working and suggest a plan of action of the day. I would still not overstep,
knowing my position in this professional environment. But I would try something.
4

She started to look for some food.
Introduction to school
In the beginning of the study everyone was still pretty clueless on how to write the Advisory report.
We got introduced to the compass atelier and what the ILPO’s and ALO’s meant. Something I had to
really get used to is the DBE phases of the advisory report. Before, I had always done research by
forming an idea and exploring that. While in this study, you are meant to first do research about a
certain direction of your challenge. Based on that you eventually come up with an improvement
proposal. I used to do the ideate and prototype phase before the sympathize and define phase. I now
realize we do this because you will not always have the immediate solution for every work project you
will get in the future. And even if you get an idea, it can in the end not be productive after done an
analysis. The last thing I want is get into a tunnel vision on my ideas.
We got introduced to the expert sessions and I was really sad it would be held online. I know myself
and actually going to school is a big motivation to pay attention as to not waste my time. Though, I
think everyone felt the same. Regardless, I tried my best to pay attention. Still, I noticed that having to
go back completely into quarantine after the summer took a toll on me. I sometimes lacked the drive
to even come out of bed most days. I mean, what is the point if I cannot leave my room anyways. I
became aware I had these bad habits around the time curfew started. To battle these habits I forced
myself to make up my bed every day after getting out as so I would not crawl in again. Sadly, it rained
a lot at that time so I could not go rollerblading. Instead I started jogging and taking walks to get out
of my room. The moment school opened for self-study I went every day possible, being able to
motivate myself doing school so much more.
5

In Module 1 she ate through 1 apple, But she was still hungry.
Advisory report Module Host
As said before, I had a lot of trouble getting used to the idea of first analyzing the field before coming
with an idea. It was because of this that I provided more of a creative mind in the first advisory report,
while also trying to be the voice of reason when ideas got out of hand . I was in at team with 2 people
who had already done HMS and one teammate who already had a lot of experience in the hospitality
industry.
The module went by faster than expected. I did my best but looking back I would never make that
report the same way. We were thinking to difficult, making everything just harder to accomplish. While
the design challenge was pretty simple: ‘Increase the revenue of restaurant Wannee.’ We made an
entire event concept for in corona times… It was pretty creative though, the teachers seemed
supportive. Even if I was a bit sceptic about some ideas, I just tried staying openminded. I did enjoy the
team.
What we did accomplish was having an incredible reliable source for the product. We managed to get
a private interview with Albert Kooy about the menu, which gave us a lot of insight for our research
design.
6

In Module 2 she ate through two pears, but she was still
hungry.
Advisory report Module quality keepers
In this module I was put in a group that at first glance did not seem to get along. You had the
experienced guy of the first module and 3 other girls who had been together the first module. It was
as if we were divided because of the merging.
On top of that our design challenge was a bit strange and difficult to understand: ‘Design a concept in
which guests are invited to experience the new property and services to evaluate our offer.’ The
difficulty was figuring out what they exactly meant by that. We put the empathize phase into use and
figured out that a current operational problem was that there was no good review/feedback system.
They only had placed the QR-code at the breakfast table that led to a survey of 50 open questions. No
human alive would want to fill that in for an hotel stay, we thought. We proposed multiple feasible
improvement solutions for the feedback system in the poster presentation. After the presentation we
chose one idea we wanted to investigate further.
To find evidence that the current system was not working, I had individual interviews with a few
students who had a practice sleep over. These interviews made clear that the system was not working
and that is how we could have an evidence-based decision that it needed to be improved.
In order to make the product feasible, we needed to have a budget for the improvement. That budget
shouldn’t be to high, otherwise the industry partner would not see the profit in it. I looked into other
businesses and what feedback system they used. That way I used that business intelligence to make a
feasible proposal. If other businesses were making profit of it, it would be a lot more feasible for us
too.
7

In Module 3 she ate through 3 plums, but she was still hungry.
Advisory report Module service performers
In module 3 I had for the first time 2 international students in my group. I could finally put my English
skills to use. It was also for that fact that I was the designated translator of the group haha. Whenever
someone could not voice their opinion well I could help them figure out the best way to say it.
I was also very curious about how it would be to work together with people from different cultures.
Aside from the project we had a lot of conversations about customs and cultures. That module I was
kind of the mediator, with some leading aspects merged into it. I always tried to let everyone know to
not be afraid to speak up and tell the group what parts they wanted to do. Always wanting to be
respectful, but also using everyone’s strengths to create value in the product with diversity in ideas.
Even with the language barrier.
This module we chose the design challenge: ‘Create a Dutch bitter garnituur (bites & drinks) experience
taking the principles of the Dutch cuisine into consideration.’ After me and another teammate made
the bites menu, I chose to do the financial part. I already had some understanding from the expert
sessions and the accounting college in my gap year. While I did not know how to do food calculations
right away, I figured it out pretty quickly. We had to plan what ingredients to use in what season, since
one principle was that it had to be local and seasonal. This product let me into a new understanding of
price calculations and I can add it to my financial knowledge. In module 4 I even explained my other
teammate how to do it correctly.
8

In Module 4 she ate through 4 strawberries, but she was still
hungry.
Advisory report Module culinary creators
With Covid going away more and more we could use more of our creative flow into our products,
because operational design challenges are legally more feasible. Of course we still needed to take
corona into consideration, since it is still uncertain if corona is really over. At the moment we are in a
changing environment. That is why we wanted to explore food truck catering with the challenge:
‘Design a catering concept for the canteen/ food court.’ In the end we made a product of an ice cream/
sorbet- bowl truck. For this, we decided to broaden the practical lessons of students by creating a subcatering
department. We basically designed a corporate social responsibility performance of a
hospitality business.
We calculated the food costs and selling price, then compared it to the budget we would need to
spend. I used revenue management to see if the product was feasible or not. In the end I calculated
we could earn our investment back within one year.
In the project I was mainly responsible for the problem definition, legal aspects and the feasibility. I
chose the piece of the legal aspects, because I had not done it before and every module I always tried
to do something else. For the food truck catering the main thing I needed to think about were the
permits the truck would need. After doing a bit of literature research I contacted the city hall through
phone and mail contact to confirm that I had the right permits in the report. It was the fact that,
because I found out we did not need to pay for a terrace permit if it was on our own ground, we
thought we could also add a terrace to the truck project.
9

In the Elective Activities she ate through 5 oranges, but she
was still hungry.
Tutor sessions English
For my elective activities I decided I did not just wanted to study a language online, I actually wanted
to help my peers. Since I had worked so hard to develop my English skills, I decided to be a tutor for
the English tutoring program of the school. Even though I had never been a tutor before, classmates
had always come to me for help with certain tasks and I was always able to explain it clearly.
I did the tutor lessons for 2 modules, module 3 and module 4. At the moment I had no job, but this felt
like one. To maintain a healthy work-life balance with my study next to it was certainly a challenge of
its own. In total of 10 weeks I had spent around 57 hours being busy with tutoring. And that was
planned next to my normal projects, exams, practice shift and my somewhat existing life. I succeeded
to do this because of good planning. Without it I would have been lost.
10

In her restaurant practice shift she ate through 1 piece of
chocolate cake.
In the first module I had restaurant shift. Because I already had a lot of
experience in the restaurant department because of former jobs, I did
not think I could learn much. Regardless, restaurant Wannee is far
more professional and has a certain reputation that needed to be
upheld. The restaurants I had worked at had a really old POS-system
that was mostly manually. Learning to use an actual modern POSsystem
is going to be very useful in the future. Especially since I have
just been hired in another restaurant as a waitress.
When using a POS system you have to be very careful. If you make one
mistake the guest will either pay too much and will get angry. This ruins
the reputation of the restaurant. Or the other option would be that the
guest pays too little and then you miss the earned revenue.
In her front office practice shift she ate 1 ice cream cone.
Before the school practice shift I had only ever had contact with a front office department in the
Fletcher wellness hotel. Even though I did not work in that department specifically, I was in contact
with them a lot through the breakfast buffet for the hotel guests. I learned that at front office having
a clear overview is incredibly important. That way you get no surprises, which shows the guests good
hostmanship. I learned that the guests always come all at once, than it goes quiet and then everyone
comes at the same time again. In those busy times you should always make sure to ignore no guests,
even when busy. Acknowledge them that you will be with them shortly will already make them
appreciative.
11

In her restaurant kitchen shift she ate 1 cupcake.
What I have always found really important when cooking for
someone, is that you should always make it safe and secure for
that person to eat. They trust that what you cook is healthy and
that you put your best intentions and energy in to make it the best
quality possible. The same way I would cook healthy for me, that
is how I should cook for others. If I do not want to eat it because
of a certain problem with the health, I should not sell it. It is the
same way I expect good food when someone cooks for me.
I see this back in the ubuntu theory. I am because of we all are.
Food connects the world in my opinion. We are all in a way
dependant on each other for the food that we consume.
Quality is also important in the way we present the food. When
cooking at home you never pay that much attention on the appearance of the food, outside of it
looking good. But nowhere near the level of dedication when putting flower petals on every piece of
rhubarb. This is something I was really excited to learn and practice with. Plating. My family has always
been a simple cook in one pot family and while delicious, it was lacking that attention of detail.
During the test and the defence she ate one piece of Swiss
cheese.
Personally, I have always hated tests. It was
why I really liked this study and curriculum.
Because it existed out of mainly projects.
And then to have one test existing out of
only open questions, about all the expert
courses over the period of 6 months… Let’s
just say I was as white as a ghost when I
heard that. It sounded kind of like my
personal hell.
And yes, the first test was hell. But sadly not because of the test itself. Everything around it. I had
forgotten to put off my sound of my phone, but I could not access it or it would look like cheating. The
whole day I had not received one message, but during the test. Yeah, that was when I was suddenly
very popular. I could not concentrate at all. Then suddenly my phone battery was dead even though I
charged it beforehand. And it was very hot as if overheated. I blame proctorexam. And during all the
break downs of everything, when I could finally focus… the fire alarm went of in my building. So that
was fun.
I did learn from it in a way. It helped me realise that even if I am in a very difficult situation, I cannot
panic. I just have to push through. The second test and the resit went fine, luckily.
A speaking test has always been more my preference. I like to converse about my answers with the
teacher and I like to be challenged with unexpected questions that I could not have learned for. I
already think in English most time, so forming sentences while speaking is not something that I struggle
with.
12

In Mapstell she ate 1 lollipop.
When I took the mapstell test I was pretty
disappointed to see my result. My behavioural
style is a perfectionist. Since this fell in the blue
conscientious spot I thought that this could not
be right. I have always seen myself more peopleoriented,
falling in either the green stable or the
yellow influential spot.
Mapstell says I prefer to work alone, in a step- bystep
way without outside interference. I am good at assessing people and I know what issues people
find sensitive. I possess good listening skills and and I am tactful in my opinion of others. My aloofness
is a way of protecting myself from unexpected situations, disagreements, or from in my eyes
unjustified criticism on my performance. In those instances I am supposedly vulnerable and on my
guard. In principle, I’ll avoid confrontation. That way I create peace and I keep track. I am
predominantly task-oriented and I set priorities.
Some of these facts I do see back in my behavior. As said before, I will always try to avoid confrontation
and I am tactful in my opinion of others. I do have to disagree with that I would rather work alone. I
actually prefer group projects. Because I do not want to let people down I motivate myself to do my
best. That is when my perfectionistic side comes in. When I am alone, I sometimes have the thought:
‘aah this is good enough.’ Something which is not recognizable in a perfectionist.
“Leadership is a competency, but there is also a link to behavioral style. As a perfectionist, you are able
to appraise people from an impartial perspective, you are a good listener and you recognize their
qualities. However, managing people, correcting them and where necessary challenging them, isn’t
your strong suit. You lack the ease and self-assurance to take appropriate action at the appropriate
moment.”
While I do agree with the lack of ease and self-assurance is true, but when it concerns other people, I
am very adamant that they know when they do something that needs to be corrected. A friend of mine
calls me a social anxiety mother hen. Alone I would never speak out loud when a certain situation
bothers me. But when it either affects my results or other people, I am always the first person who
speaks up.
All in all I did notice after the mapstell result that some things they said about me, which I thought
were not true, are actually pretty accurate. Still, my opinion is always that you cannot box people in a
limit of personalities. Some things are true some not. Nobody is the same. While mapstell is broader
in diversity between the personality traits, it remains just a system that categorizes you.
13

In Global Mind Monitor she ate 1 piece of cherry pie.
When my result from the global mind monitor
came in I laughed so hard. Because everything was
high except my emotional stability. Which is kind of
true, I am very instable in that regard. Though, at
that moment of time when I took the test it was
worse than now. I have high peaks and low peaks.
Maybe that is what they mean with instability. Not
that it is bad all the time, but that it changes so fast.
I also agree with my score in the other categories. I
do not really have an opinion over it, because it is
more of a conformation than a discovery. I kind of
knew these things already. I am already working on
taking more social initiative. I am slowly growing
more comfortable in my skin. It just takes time. If I
look back two years, I do not even recognize myself.
In the accountability reports she ate 1 pickle.
The showcase report is of course a reflective report of all my professional and personal improvement
over the year. While the accountability reports are a reflecting report of one module. Every module I
compare them to each other on how I acted differently with this team, what I did the same, what went
well and what can (still) be improved.
From what I have noticed is that I have overcome my insecurity a great deal. In the first module it was
very present, while in the last module my teammates were surprised when I mentioned I was insecure.
I think this happened because I slowly grew in my environment. I was just nervous in the beginning of
the year. I did not know my place and I was afraid I would be judged for my actions in a bad way if I
spoke out.
Aside from that I have also improved a lot from being chaotic. The main reason for that is the fact that
I plan more ahead. That way I know what is coming and I can prepare for it. I think this reflects back to
my discovered perfectionistic personality. When I have a plan I know what is happening and I am in
control. When something unexpecting happens I panic. When that happened like in module 3 you can
see back my emotional instability. It is like a switch.
I have also begun thinking more for myself instead of
asking everything. In a managing position I should be
able to do this. While I do not blame myself for
asking for certain answers, especially not in the first
year, later in life you do not have that safety net.
I should also not wear a mask to hide my emotions.
This is a false comfort that people will not judge me.
It is quite the opposite. They will judge you, but
instead of understanding your situation they will
think negatively of you.
14

In the mission statement she ate 1 slice of watermelon.
My (updated) mission statement is:
‘What I find important in the world is individuality. Everyone grows up different and there are so many
cultures. I do not want to act the same way to everyone. People from a certain culture do not
appreciate what other cultures do. What I want is that everyone receives the same possibilities and
opportunities. In that way I will treat everyone the same. Diversity should be explored. That way we
can all understand each other better.’
As said before, I will always want there to be as little conflict as possible. That is why I want to make
sure that everyone has the most pleasant experience when they meet or get to know me.
That night she had a stomachache.
Sadly, we are still in corona times. Still in quarantine. I am very sad I have not yet had the opportunity
to truly experience student life. Hopefully this will happen in year 2.
15

The very hungry caterpillar then ate through one green leaf.
She started to feel better.
This is the last project that I have to do. After this I have finished all my deadlines.
Now, the caterpillar was no longer small. She was a big, grown
caterpillar.
16

She build a small house, called an cocoon around herself. She
stayed inside until September. Then she nibbled a small hole
in the cocoon, pushed her way out and….
NHL Stenden Hospitality management stands for developing your professional and personal career
during your study. Next year I will take from what I have learned this year, as well as take new goals
with me to develop myself even further.
Professional development goals:
- Do not wear a mask to hide my emotions.
- Work on even better organization.
- Work on staying calm during unforeseen situations.
Personal development goals:
- Again, do not wear a mask to hide my emotions.
- Listen more to other people to understand them better.
- Work on my insecurity even more, I know I still have them.
17

And when year 2 starts I will be…
18