Are you tired of listening to never-ending-success-stories and feel like you might be the only one where things did not go as planned? We, humans, pay so much attention to the “winners” that we don’t know what to do when we’re part of “the rest”. Not all of us do our bachelors in three years, have a great time studying abroad and making new friends or succeed in other parts of what is called studying.
Hello everyone! Our names are Mila and Obaida, and we are both third year students of the International Studies programme here at Leiden University. Over the last few weeks, we have been working with a team of dedicated International Studies students on a project that will help students reconnect, socialise, and meet new people.
In this interview, we’re talking to Bas le Cointre, third year student International Studies. During the pandemic this year, he did an internship for a renowned Dutch radio station, where he produced his own podcast series. We ask him more about this experience, and what his advice is to fellow students.
As this year crawls to a close, its worth reflecting on where we were twelve months ago. That feels like a really long time ago. When I took over as programme chair on 1 February, Corona was looming, but we still had little idea what an impact it would have on everything. Since then its often been hard to maintain a positive vibe about anything.
Did you ever wonder about your opportunities after graduating? Did most International Studies students go to find a job or did the majority go on to pursue their Master’s degree? And maybe more interesting, in what kind of sectors do they end up once they start working? This year, the Career Service Humanities conducted a survey amongst alumni who graduated between 2016 and 2020 to hear about what happened after graduation….
Alumnus Dennis Jansen was recently elected as Youth Delegate at the United Nations. For the next two years, he is committed to the area of Sustainable Development and will discuss this topic with young people.
On the 23 October, an online version of the Area Fair took place. At the Area Fair the various regions and languages that students can choose from to specialize in at International Studies present themselves. Also, students can ask questions to some of the lecturers teaching the courses and to fellow students who have already chosen their specializations.
Roos Imkamp is an alumna of the first International Studies cohort from 2015. She is now a Sustainability Medior Consultant and has been elected as one of the Sustainable Young 100 (Duurzame Jonge 100) of the Netherlands.
Roadmaps are hot. Since this week, the corona measures roadmap is released in the Netherlands. Clearly, difficult times require helpful documents that provide an overview of the situation. Also for students, it’s not always easy to navigate through our website or know where to go with a certain question. That’s a shame, since the University offers quite some helpful support when you perhaps do not feel as happy, healthy, or positive as you used to.
What does it mean to be critical? Are there any ground rules for pursuing a critical line of thinking, or is everything permitted? Should arguments be based on identity or rationality? Is it ever acceptable to negatively typecast someone we disagree with? These are increasingly crucial questions for any academic environment. For us as International Studies, it is important that we recognise the basic principles of where we are – a university – and who we are – a scholarly community.
