Finding the right mix

Aan: Kim Stolk (19, IO)
Ontvangen: 10 oktober 12:07
Van: Alexandra Izeboud (21, IO)

Kheb n kater, kon t ff niet halen om half 12, kom er nu aan! X

Vrijdagmiddag om 16.00 uur heeft het projectgroepje van Alexandra en Kim een deadline voor hun tweedejaars IO-project. Ondanks deze deadline vindt het groepje het een goed idee om juist de nacht ervoor uit te kiezen om een avondje te stappen. “Een soort teambuilden”, verklaart een van de groepsleden. De avond begint met het eten van pizza en eindigt in het Paard van Troje, het bekende Haagse jongerencentrum. “We dansen iedereen daar van de vloer!” Uiteindelijk zijn de meesten om 4 uur ’s ochtends pas thuis, 12 uur voor de deadline. Logisch dus dat Alexandra even moet laten weten de afgesproken tijd van half twaalf niet haalbaar is. Of de deadline zelf wel wordt gehaald? “Ja hoor, maar daarom moet ik nu wel gauw verder.”

The new academic year kicked off last week in a not so subtle manner. There were parties and plenty of events organized by the faculties to help make students comfortable in their new surroundings. The road to completing one’s studies will indeed be rough and tough at times. But a key element to making this rough ride smoother is choosing the right mix of courses.

One of persistent issues raised during feedback and mentor meetings is the difficulty in completing course work. A deeper analysis of this difficulty reveals something fundamental: many students who face difficulties in completing their course work have simply chosen the wrong mix of courses.

Santosh Ilamparuthi, a second-year international MSc student in sustainable process and energy technology, currently interning at an organization working on heat recovery, says: “I think I took up good courses, but I did have a pretty full schedule. In the middle of my course work I got stuck, because of the heavy work load, and could only manage by putting in lots of extra time. But if I had chosen the right mix of courses to start with, I could’ve worked in a more relaxed manner. Some courses I took turned out to be more relevant than the others.”

When asked to give some tips to the university’s new students, Ilamparuthi quickly replies: ““If I had a time machine to travel one year back in time, I’d pace myself a lot better. Although I took courses I liked, the timing of the courses could’ve been better. Better timing would’ve helped me avoid overloading myself with more than I handle comfortably.”
And what does a Dutch student say about this experience? David Reuijl, a Dutch MSc student in biomechanical design and board member of the university’s Biomedical Engineers (AvL) student society says: “Taking many courses gives you lots of raw knowledge, which is highly appreciated by companies. However, some experience and so-called ‘people skills’ are also very important to preparing for a professional career. But as is the case with most moral questions in life, the trick lies in the right trade-off.”
The ‘trick’ here then is not to take a number of courses that may ultimately prove irrelevant to your studies, but rather to focus on finding the right mix or balance of courses and social activities that will best aid your professional and personal development.

Every faculty has a counselor on hand. They can make detailed analyses of a student’s chosen courses and help correct overloadings. Students can also turn to a specific program coordinator in helping to choose the right mix from the start.