Surviving My First Exam Week at Wageningen University

 

Hi all, I am Pablo Iglesias Montero, and I recently joined the International Student Blog team. I am from Spain, and I grew up in Ávila and Madrid. Currently, I am enrolled in the MSc Plant Biotechnology programme at Wageningen University and Research (WUR). I could describe myself as a friendly person who loves meeting new people, travelling, and history. Also, I love football, where I play for the GVC3 team of WUR.

As a first-year MSc student, I recently experienced my first exam week at WUR. In this blog, I would like to share how I adapted to life at WUR, how exam week felt from the perspective of an international student, and a few things that helped me survive it.

My beginning at WUR

It seems like it was yesterday when it was summer, when I had just arrived from Boston after almost 5 months of work. A new chapter of my life was beginning before me. I remember being in Ávila, drinking an iced latte at my go-to bar, thinking about this new era. For sure, my thoughts were that my life in Wageningen was going to be chill, with no stress, just me trying to build my future career path; plot twist, I was wrong.

Time eventually passes. I flew to Amsterdam, went to one of the most student towns in the Netherlands (Wageningen), changed the Spanish countryside for the Dutch countryside, and the next day, the Academic Introduction Day (AID) started. Everyone was on the streets and a lot of things happened; it was like an adrenaline-fuelled 24/7 event, where every hour you had to do activities with people you had met, but eventually they became your best friends. I don’t know how, but they’re still there today.

Then the lectures and labs started, and you started trying to create a routine: going to the gym, paying attention to your girlfriend, working because salaries are different than they are in your country, and trying to learn Dutch… Every piece of the puzzle was starting to fall into place until WUR decided it was a good time to challenge me again. It challenges me so much that I switched from beer to coffee, from football podcasts to lecture recordings, and from weight-lifting at the gym to note-lifting at home.

Exactly, how do you know exam week has started?

My experience during my exam week.

It was also during this week that I didn’t know how the weather changed from 26ºC to 19ºC, from sunny to cloudy, and from people smiling to serious people who don’t talk to you much. It is as if God knows that something is going on at WUR. For sure, this is my first study week in Wageningen, and it’s also my first period of my Master’s.

It feels like during this week I am always waking up to a grey sky, going to the gym, and studying until the time for dinner, and it seems that everyone is passing through the same as you: there is no one in the gym, no one in the football training, and there is no one on the streets (besides older people). You start thinking you are living in the universe of Resident Evil, and then you enter the Forum building in WUR campus. You see, around 80% of the student population at the Forum, the other 19% study at home, and the 1% have already thrown in the towel.

My advice for the exam week

Even if the study week is for studying, you need time to do things you enjoy, relax, and avoid being in front of your laptop screen 24/7 for your health. For instance, I enjoy playing strategy games such as Hearts of Iron IV, Europa Universalis IV, or Football Manager. Playing games makes me feel relaxed, even if they require focusing on every detail and avoiding mistakes, or you will ruin your 5 hours of gameplay.

The fear of the unknown

Of course, I have been in worse situations, because last year I had to study 7 exams in one week, and now I only have 1. Even with that in mind, you know that it is a new university, a new country, in ENGLISH. You need 5.5/10 to pass, not a 5. Even if you know you can make it, you have that uncertainty, the uncertainty that you might fail to adapt to the Dutch system.

You start meeting second-year students who are still studying that subject, then you meet another group of second-year students who tell you that the subject is easy, and finally you talk with the teachers, who tell you that 40% of the class have not passed the exam. Exactly, you freak out and start thinking it’s impossible, while you study 24/7 every day.

There Is No Perfect Study Method

For one reason or another, everybody wants to study on campus, but I don’t like it. I usually study at home, speaking, walking, and going from one side of my room to the other. Yeah, if you see me studying, you may think I have mental issues. That worked for me during my whole time. I don’t take many notes; I review the PowerPoints internally once and add a few things.

Once, I tried going to the campus to study, but it didn’t work, since I saw it as a waste of time, or at least it seemed to me, although I learned a few things; the other person I was with learned way more. Anyway, studying is like that: another person may do something else, but you know you have to do what suits you best. In the end, you have failed some exams throughout your life, and you have learned from your mistakes and developed the best method for you; it may improve with advice from others, or it may not, but you always need to try new things.

Why Social Time Matters

Moreover, you need to spend time with people you like. Even if you are stressed or feel your exam is going to be bad, and you need to study the whole day to make it, you can’t pretend to study the whole day because you will end up tired, and you will waste your time trying to study something that you won’t remember tomorrow. For me, being 1 hour each day with friends or with my girlfriend is a must. Just having dinner may affect the end of the day and make it more fun, or try to accept some plans, such as hanging out, having some beers, or going to a pub. These people are in the same situation as you, and talking with them about things other than the exam will improve your mental state and, for sure, relax you a bit for the exam.

Finally, I also like to play sports, such as football, or go to the gym, because doing them once a day in the morning before studying helps me focus more later on. Furthermore, it helps me relax and de-stress after a long day of studying.

For me, every time I mix friends, sports, video games, and studying with my exams, the outcome has been better overall—better grades and a better time than when I was only studying 24/7.

More than just exams

The most important part of the study week is striking a balance between studying and hanging out. You can’t focus only on one because your life will collapse, but if you create that balance, everything is going to be way better. I mean, even if you are a first master’s student or a first undergrad student, you have been studying your whole life. You have been suffering from teachers and people who told you this year is the worst, that this subject is the worst, and that you have to study even more than last year. Yeah, you already know how it ends: you go to the exam and pass it. Of course, the process of passing the exam can seem apocalyptic, but you can make it more pleasant, and in the end, you fill a paper, you pass the exam, and you start living a life without any stress.

Thank you for reading, and I will see you on more future posts!

Greetings, Pablo