‘I have to be careful that staying out late during weeknights doesn’t become a habit’

Mitchell* (18) from Naaldwijk is about to start the International Bachelor Economics and Business Economics (IBEB) programme. He regrets that he won’t be able to join the Eureka Week events because he planned his holidays just before the academic year begins.

Why did you choose this programme?

“The variation offered by the programme really appeals to me. In the first year, the courses range from ICT to marketing. It’s also a programme with a strong international focus. It’s not my first programme, by the way: last year I studied Law and Business Administration in Leiden.”

Why did you choose EUR?

“Not a lot of universities offer this programme, so that helped me in making this choice. Erasmus University has a good reputation and Rotterdam is only a forty-minute commute for me. So why not choose Rotterdam?”

Are you planning to live in rented accommodation?

“I’m not planning to rent a place in my first year. I want to first see how demanding this programme is for me. I don’t live all that far away, so commuting isn’t a problem anyway.”

What are your expectations for your first year at EUR?

“My expectations are somewhat biased, because I already studied for a year in Leiden. So I’m already aware that a university is very different from secondary school. But what I’m expecting in this programme compared to last year is education in smaller groups and more personal contact with lecturers.”

What are your good – or maybe not so good – resolutions in the first year of your studies?

“I’m pretty familiar with Rotterdam, so I think I would enjoy helping international students get acquainted with the city and show them the best nightspots. But I have to be careful that staying out late on weeknights doesn’t become a habit. But we still have the weekends for that, don’t we?”

* For privacy reasons, the student’s surname has been removed. The full name is known to the editors.