A View From The Outside: Interview

Hoe wordt Maastricht ervaren door een Buitenlandse Student?? Deze vraag stelde ik mijzelf bij het starten van dit weblog. Ik heb de hulp ingeroepen van een vriend die aan het Erasmus/Socrates Project heeft meegedaan en tussen september 2004 en februari 2005 in Maastricht heeft gestudeerd. Ik zal hem even voorstellen:

Naam: Fabio Parisi

Woonplaats: Rome, Italy

Leeftijd: 25

Studie: Economics

Ik heb Fabio aan een kort vragenvuur onderworpen, over Maastricht zelf, het leven in het Guesthouse - het oude ziekenhuis dat omgebouwd is tot een enorm studentenhuis bedoeld om buitenlandse studenten onder te brengen-, het uitgaansleven en de wijze van lesgeven op de Universiteit Maastricht. Hieronder kun je het interview lezen.

Was it a big change for you to study abroad?? From a Big city as Rome, to a small one like Maastricht??

When choosing the destination for my exchange program, I was not necessarily searching for a big town, since Rome is a very big city where it could be hard, for a student, to find the right dimension. For this reason, it was simple to familiarize with Maastricht's surroundings, to know its places while never feeling lost as it could be in a big town. Besides, I immediately realized how cosmopolitan the town and its university were, where a lot of students are foreign. That makes Maastricht a very interesting town, a town for students.

Can you mention some activities the University arranged for Erasmus/Socrates-students??

Before the beginning of the courses they arranged a welcome week, to show us how to use several facilities at university and at the library. It was a very good initiative, and very appreciated. They also organized some parties and other activities, most of them arranged by the Erasmus Student Network.

How was it like living in the Guesthouse?

(Together with people from everywhere, sharing a kitchen, sharing rooms)

Living at the Guesthouse has been a very exciting and inspiring experience. I think that the best aspect was being with a lot of exchange students willing to know each other, and so to get in contact with someone was really simple; for me it was great to get to know different cultures, and to confront with students from all over the world, because confronting with people with different habits and thoughts is something that makes you grow up.

What do you think of the Problem Based Learning-system? Is it in your opinion better or do we need to go back to the old system??

As an Italian student, at the beginning I found it hard to get used to the PBL system. But then I realized that it offers what our Italian university is lacking, a more practical approach to studies (I study economics). The system, based on problems and cases, is a key aspect, because while preparing presentations is a good way to learn in depth an argument and to coordinate with other students, to have this kind of system makes a theoretical topic more interesting and practical and it makes university more similar to a job environment. Surely, to have such a well planned system (in terms of schedules, presentation calendar, topics to be discussed known in advance) is a good way to encourage and stimulate students.

Conversely, what I don’t like about the PBL system is that there are so few lectures, and so it is really hard to feel the contact with a Professor. Sometimes I had the feeling that the role of the tutor was only to coordinate students during a lesson, while it would be necessary to have a stronger presence, more similar to a professor rather than a simple coordinator. In this way, students could take all the advantages of this system (practical approach, well planned schedules), while enjoying a little bit of the old academic system.

Can you mention some activities the University arranged for Erasmus-students??

Before the beginning of the courses they arranged a welcome week, to show us how to use several facilities at university and at the library. It was a very good initiative, and very appreciated. They also organized some parties and other activities, most of them arranged by the Erasmus Student Network.

Did you get in touch with the Dutch students?? Or did you connect more with the foreign students??

Erasmus students, especially those at the guesthouse (like me) generally used to stay only with other exchange students from the guesthouse, while having little chance to be in contact with Dutch students. First of all, to be at the Guesthouse gives the students the possibility to build relationship within it. Then, Erasmus students often go to places where parties are organized for them and where the vast majority of people are foreign students, especially in a little town like Maastricht. In my case, I also got in touch with a few Dutch students I met at university and with someone I met at night parties.

Overall, did you enjoy your stay in Maastricht???

Maastricht and the four months period spent as an exchange student represent one of the most beautiful and useful experience I’ve ever lived. Probably the most controversial aspect of that period is my approach to university and PBL system (it is not easy to be a perfect student when you are an Erasmus students, who wants to spend part of the day enjoying!), but even though at the beginning it was not simple to get used to it, then I could really appreciate the university and its quality, while having the possibility to know people and to learn new things.

I learned to know other cultures, to be open-minded in the sense of being curious to know other students’ habits and I had the chance to build relationships that are still enduring. I loved to be at the Guesthouse with so many people, to share with them not only the kitchen, but almost every part of the day. I liked the town and Netherlands in general, that I could visit widely, appreciating how carefully Dutch people preserve the environment and their places.