A Day in the Life; Student in Management, Economics and Consumer Studies

My colleague Õnne started to give you some insights in her daily routine in her last article and assumed that the day of students in other fields is not much different. However, I do have to disagree on that. Please see for yourself, where the biggest differences are.

It is Period 3 now, which means that I only have one course instead of two. So, the course keeps you busy the whole day and the schedule is not split in a morning and an afternoon course.

6.55 AM – Good morning Wageningen

Very untypical for a student to be up and about that early, I know, but the morning hours are my most productive part of the day and if I want to get things done, this is the time. Also, having a decent breakfast is a crucial part of my start in the day, preventing my transformation into a grumpy grizzly with a growling stomach.

8.20 AM – Too late to cycle slow

Even if getting up early is not a problem, leaving my place on time, is. From Haarweg, one of the Idealis student houses, to Uni takes about fifteen to twenty minutes if you prefer the unhurried way of cycling. However, you can also make it in ten minutes if you cycle like the devil is after you. And that’s actually my way of cycling. Nevertheless, I make it in time to my morning class. Most of the time at least. Indeed, scant of breath and a bit sweaty, but I make it.

9.15 AM – Coffee!

After the first 45 min of lecture or tutorial – for me, it is most of the time a combination of the two formats in this period – usually there is a short coffee break. My current professor often forgets, but when students kindly remind her, she is most of the time releasing us for a couple of minutes. Personally, I try to reduce my own coffee consumption a bit and postpone the first coffee to after lunch: Having a coffee in every so-called coffee break would not only cause serious heart problems, nervousness and put you in a severe threat of coffee addiction, but would also tear a huge hole in your purse. You see, there are a lot of coffee breaks.

In between the coffee breaks, we currently discuss in a group of four our interdisciplinary research proposal on nanotechnology applied in food retail. The four-week course had a lecture-intensive track in the first week, which was closed with a multiple-choice exam. Currently, we are doing group work, preparing a research proposal and a scientific poster, discuss it with other groups and give each other feedback.

12.15 PM – Lunch for everyone

This is probably the element that all students’ daily routines share: It’s lunch time between 12.15 PM and 13.30 PM. And everyone is pretty strict on that. The canteens in Orion, Lebo and Forum are crowded, there are lunch concerts, lectures or other events in the Impulse building, friends meet up to catch up, the queues at the Albert Heijn To Go, Subway and the many fast food restaurants are almost as long as the queues in front of the microwaves.

13.30 PM – The after-lunch-dip

Unfortunately, in business studies there are no exciting excursions to make and no lab experiments possible. Therefore, the second half of the day means working on the research proposal again, reading paper for the group work or preparing presentations. The lack of excitement and the predominantly seated position of a social scientist do not contribute to an energetic afternoon. Therefore, coffee is needed – remember, I said I try to postpone it to after lunch, that’s why.

Sometimes, though, there are also little moments of excitement in the life of a business student, when there are conferences, presentations or other events on campus or close by. For example, WUR in collaboration with StartHub hosted the European Food Nexus Start-up Challenge. Another, more recent example, is my attendance of the Dutch Craft Beer Conference in Amersfoort to get more insights in my Master Thesis topic.

17.30 PM – Work out

After Uni, you find me, most of the time in de Bongerd. Of course, I am mainly there to do workouts, such as spinning or running on the treadmill in winter, or to attend fitness classes, but I can also highly recommend the pub. They do not only sell relatively cheap and nice beer (Weizen, to be precise), but especially on Thursdays, it is a quite lively spot.

By doing sports after Uni instead of going home first, I also avoid the rush of hungry students in the close-by supermarket. So many students pass by the supermarket after class to buy dinner, that around 17.30 it is probably the busiest time of the day.

19.30 PM – Evening programme

After having a shower, the evening programme sets off. Often, I hear people saying that there is not much to do in Wageningen, but I believe that this highly depends on your willingness to do explore the city. Of course, you could always meet for dinner or drinks with friends at someone’s place or in one of the multiple pubs in the city centre, but you could also go to the cinema, dance, attend a comedy night (for example at Café Loburg) or a concert (such as Quite is the new loud at de bblth). Also check out the diverse events of the various international student associations such as IxESN or ISOW and the events taking place at Impulse.

I am volunteering in the little cinema Movie W, which is a filmhouse screening arthouse movies and run only by volunteers. Also when I am not selling tickets or snacks and drinks myself, I often go there to watch a movie.