MSc Student Kateryna about housing & groupwork

How do our international students experience studying in Wageningen? Kateryna shares her experience with Dutch people, Wageningen city and the level of education.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWznTxDjfVI&t=4s

Could you describe briefly introduce yourself?

“My name is Kateryna and I’m 23 years old. I was born in Ukraine (Lviv), but at age nine I moved to Italy (Milan), where I spent more than half of my life. I’m currently doing a master’s degree in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management.”

Where do you live? In a student house like Starflat or do you rent a room in the city?

“I live in Dijkgraaf. Although at the beginning it was quite frightening living with many people together, I do like it now. And although it’s sad when a roommate leaves, I’m always curious about who is going to move in next.”

What do you do besides studying?

“Besides studying I work at the Green Office, where I manage social media and in general the communication aspect. I like this position a lot. In general I just like chilling and going for long walks around Wageningen, for instance in the Wageningen Hoog.”

And do you also play any sports?

“I’m not really a sports person and when I decided to maybe try out a sports activity, the Covid regulations came up, so I still didn’t have the chance to experience sports activities in Wageningen. I do like to go for long hikes though.”

As an international student abroad, how do you meet other students?

“Fortunately, when I arrived at the end of August the situation was still not as bad ad it got to be in October and November. So, I got to meet some people from my course. Additionally, I’m lucky to have very nice roommates whom I spent very nice evenings with, even during the curfew.”

What are your favourite spots on campus?

“I like all the green spots on campus where especially in spring there are a lot of flowers blooming. The flower field near Atlas looked especially good in April.”

What do you like the most about studying and living in the Netherlands?

“I like that it’s quite a small country, so if you want to go visit a city, it’s doable even within a day. Studying here was definitely challenging at the beginning since the way of learning is so different from Italy. Here it’s more about interaction, as well as group learning and learning by doing, rather than just getting information from the professors. Although it was challenging at the beginning, I do like that I have experienced both ways of learning.”

When did you first hear about WUR? What did you think about it and what was the moment you knew for sure this is where I am going to study?

“I actually first found out about the MAM master’s programme and then about WUR. I was very interested in the governance of marine life, so I searched on the internet for foreign master’s degrees in this subject and this is how I found MAM. From what I found on the internet, WUR was the only university that offered a master’s degree that I was very interested in.

After finding out about MAM I research Wageningen University a bit and really liked that it was in a small city since I was both born and grew up in both large cities and wanted to move away from that environment for a bit. What also attracted me is that is the campus. From the pictures that I saw online, it looked very modern and captivating. The fact that WUR has also ranked as one of the most sustainable university for several years in a row was also a huge bonus since sustainability is very important to me.”

Do you know where you see yourself working in the future?

“I am still not 100% about this. Recently I’ve been thinking of working either for some organizations that certificate fish and assures that the fish has been fished sustainability of for an organization like the FAO, also with something connected to marine governance maybe. We’ll see ?”

Which part of your study do you find the most interesting?

“I definitely find working with other students particularly interesting. This is because I never did group works back in Italy. I think working with groups is very good practice for future jobs. The courses I like the most is where there is a combination of the theory being explained by teachers and group work on a particular topic. I think that’s the best way to learn.”