{"id":72348,"date":"2017-06-08T10:58:45","date_gmt":"2017-06-08T08:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/2017\/06\/08\/r-p-mijn-studietijd-2013-2017\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:48","slug":"r-p-mijn-studietijd-2013-2017-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/06\/08\/r-p-mijn-studietijd-2013-2017-2\/","title":{"rendered":"RIP my student years (2013-2017)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reach as high as you can, get the most out of yourself, don\u2019t be mediocre! That is what everyone kept telling me when I left primary school.<\/p>\n

Even so, I have recently made a definitive decision to quit my degree. And I think it will help me get farther than a degree certificate.<\/p>\n

Just like nearly every child in the Netherlands, I once ended up at a primary school. After spending eight years there, I was presented with the CITO test, whose results determined that I would attend a pre-university school. Elementary.<\/p>\n

Miraculous pass<\/h3>

I attended a regular secondary school. I loved the atmosphere there, but I soon began to see flaws in education in general and in my own school in particular. I found our subject matter too shallow, the lessons too boring, the quizzes too numerous, my classes too large, and I vociferously shared my opinions with whoever cared to listen.<\/p>\n

Despite my contrary nature, I never once skipped a lesson. I was late for class often, but I refused to feel guilty about it. What idiot makes teenagers show up at 8.15am? However, when push came to shove, I got along with nearly all of my teachers, and I did work hard at school, in my own special way. I just didn\u2019t prepare for tests. It didn\u2019t stop me from passing my school-leaving exams six years later. Even my form teacher was surprised.<\/p>\n

Terribly guilty<\/h3>

I had a hard time deciding what kind of degree to get. I felt like studying journalism at a university of applied sciences. My teachers told me not to. You\u2019re too clever for a university of applied sciences. Choose something theoretical.<\/em> After reading a novel by Jean-Paul Sartre, I thought, I\u2019ll get a degree in philosophy. It doesn\u2019t get much more theoretical than that.<\/p>\n

A year into my degree, I regretted my decision. I felt useless at university, although I couldn\u2019t quite explain why. At the same time, I felt terribly guilty for feeling that way. I was aware that it was a privilege to be able to attend uni, and I thought I was being ungrateful for not wanting to do so.<\/p>\n

Fixated<\/h3>

It wasn\u2019t until after my board year at a student society that I realised why I was so unhappy. Although I didn\u2019t love everything about it, the task of organising and planning things gave me a new sense of satisfaction. Which wasn\u2019t really new to me. In my first year at secondary school, I had sometimes been allowed to do some carpentry, which had made me feel the same way. Clearly, I needed to do<\/em> things.<\/p>\n

Maybe I got stuck in the wrong lane somewhere along the way and ended up in a place where I don\u2019t belong. Maybe I will change my mind about this at some point. But for now, I\u2019m very sure about one thing:\u00a0for the time being, I\u2019m going to do something else than study. I\u2019m not quite sure yet what it\u2019s going to be, because I\u2019ve been fixated on a future in academia all my life. That is not a bad thing. I just need some time to figure out who I am, and it\u2019s better to do so now than to wait and do it later.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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