{"id":101279,"date":"2019-08-08T09:01:41","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T07:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=101279"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:24","slug":"security-doesnt-check-for-id-during-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/08\/08\/security-doesnt-check-for-id-during-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Security doesn\u2019t check for ID during the holidays\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

For 99 per cent of the tens of thousands of people who can be found on EUR on any given day, the summer months are when they enjoy some peace and quiet and their holidays. It\u2019s when they take a brief break from all their exams, re-sits, deadlines and meetings.<\/p>\n

However, there are people on campus who are working very hard indeed at present. So who are these people, and what are they doing now that many other people are enjoying lazing about on a hot summer\u2019s day? Benedikt Pies, 21, a business administration student from Cologne, is working hard at the University Library.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>

What on earth are you still doing on campus?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m currently completing my Bachelor\u2019s thesis, but actually, I don\u2019t belong here. I study business administration at the University of Cologne. My girlfriend lives and studies law in Rotterdam. I\u2019m here because of her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has finished everything she had to do in this academic year and is working during the day. The deadline for my thesis is approaching \u2013 just two weeks to go. Since she\u2019s working anyway, I may as well complete my thesis here. The campus is the perfect spot to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

And you\u2019re not getting shooed away by guards checking whether you are actually an EUR student?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Smiles: \u201cI\u2019m aware that this is a thing and I checked the situation before I started coming to the campus, but they don\u2019t check for ID during the holidays. In other words, I haven\u2019t come across any guards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\tIt\u2019s not a typically Dutch city \u2013 I think Amsterdam is more typical. Am I allowed to say that?\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

How did you meet your girlfriend?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were both in an exchange programme at Glasgow University, which was a lot of fun. I met a ton of great people, and as an added bonus, I ended up with an absolutely lovely girlfriend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs a long-distance relationship hard to manage? It\u2019s not hard at all to travel between Cologne and Rotterdam. Three hours on a train is all it takes. We see each other nearly every weekend. That\u2019s about as often as some couples I know who live in the same city. But it\u2019s a little harder to visit each other on a whim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now about your thesis \u2013 weren\u2019t most Bachelor\u2019s theses due a while ago?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cGerman universities run on a different timetable than Dutch universities, and the second semester in Germany started much later than the second half of the year, as is common here in the Netherlands. We start in April and end in August.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is your thesis about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy thesis is about the use of artificial intelligence in the world of finance and how best to understand it. I wanted to write a thesis on a subject that\u2019s going to be important in the future, to keep it interesting and relevant. At first I was really interested in it, but the longer I spent working on it, the staler it became in the end. I think that can\u2019t be helped when you\u2019re immersing yourself in a subject for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is the Master\u2019s degree you have chosen in line with the subject of your thesis?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI mainly wish to focus on finance and management. I\u2019m considering getting my Master\u2019s here in Rotterdam, so one of the reasons why I\u2019m writing my Bachelor\u2019s thesis on this campus is to check how I feel about the campus. I\u2019ve been favourably impressed. It\u2019s great that the university isn\u2019t spread across the city, and the buildings here are relatively new and modern.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo why am I considering Rotterdam? Because the Rotterdam School of Management ranks high, and of course it\u2019s nice and convenient that my girlfriend lives here. I also think Rotterdam is a beautiful modern city. It\u2019s not a typically Dutch city \u2013 I think Amsterdam is more typical. Am I allowed to say that? Or Utrecht with its small canals. But that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s great about Rotterdam. You have to get to know it and learn to appreciate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, when will you be able to take a break?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the deadline for my thesis, two weeks from now, I\u2019ll be spending three weeks on the C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur with my girlfriend. I\u2019m looking forward to it immensely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t