{"id":138823,"date":"2022-04-13T16:11:03","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T14:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=138823"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:14","slug":"campus-talk-why-are-students-not-coming-to-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/04\/13\/campus-talk-why-are-students-not-coming-to-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus Talk: Why are students not coming to campus?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of 22 March virtually all corona-related regulations have been lifted by the Dutch government. Erasmus University has been on par with these new measures but despite the return of on-campus education and the full capacity of lecture halls, countless students have decided to remain at home. Why aren\u2019t they coming back?<\/p>\n

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Yara Zaharieva waits outside Spar after an on-campus lecture.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tElliot Zepeda<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Agustina Aedo, 19, International Bachelor Arts and Culture Studies<\/h2>
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\u2018Agua\u2019, as she prefers to be called, spent her last two years of high school in an online environment. This has been her driving force to wake up every morning and attend most of her on-campus lectures at Erasmus University. It gives her some sense of tangibility to her life. \u201cI appreciate being surrounded by classmates and being able to interact with the lecturers in real life.\u201d However, many students have become accustomed to this online world. \u201cSince we had online education in school, we are very used to having classes online and some people can prefer them. They can wake up a bit later, take more time taking notes.\u201d Agua says that this has translated into empty lecture halls. Nevertheless, she believes this is how life should go on. \u201cI don\u2019t think we should go back to how it used to be. Having hybrid education allows both students and teachers to be more flexible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastian Kuthe, 20, International Bachelor History<\/h2>
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Whether it rains, blows, or storms, you will always find Sebastian sitting in the front row of every lecture hall. \u201cI like them because I can concentrate more. By looking at the teacher and my peers, there\u2019s more of a social pressure to pay attention and \u2018be there\u2019, in the moment, learning.\u201d However, he acknowledges that there are some benefits to online lectures. Sebastian recalls an important assignment was due at the same time a lecture was taking place, so many of his peers \u2018attended virtually, so that they could work on the assignment while the class was going on\u2019. Despite these conveniences, Sebastian thinks hybrid education should be limited. \u201cWe should leave it exclusively for people who have Covid, not for whatever reason. Just go to the lecture. It\u2019s just better.<\/p>\n

Yana Zaharieva, 19, International Bachelor Arts and Culture Studies<\/h2>
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Yara Zaharieva waits outside Spar after an on-campus lecture.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tElliot Zepeda<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cSometimes I skip the morning lectures because I hate waking up early\u201d, Yana confesses. But 9 am lectures are not the only factor to avoid here. Public transportation is an expensive component of university life for many international students, so by staying at home \u2018you save a few euros here and there\u2019. Yana\u2019s peers have had a similar reasoning, as fewer and fewer students came to the lectures in their previous term. \u201cBy the end, there weren\u2019t any people in the lecture hall at all.\u201d When asked how to reverse this situation, Yana suggests that \u2018when you feel that coming to campus is more useful for you and that you can learn more, then more people will start to come\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\t

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