Over the years I’ve studied at the UG, I’ve taken and passed tons of exams, I’ve written as many essays and I’ve read thousand of pages of textbooks. I’ve walked and cycled the streets of Groningen countless times, tried every store in the city and I’ve been to the best pubs and restaurants. Every year comes with its ups and downs, but when I make up the balance, it’s always overwhelmingly positive - I love living and studying in Groningen. In this blog, I want to share the things I love most about the University of Groningen and studying Business and Economics here.

The freedom to make my own choices

Right from the start of my studies, I got the freedom to decide what direction I wanted to take my studies in. Every Business and Economics student needs to know certain basics, but after that, we can choose what the focus of our studies will be on. Near the end of my first year, I was making the choice if I wanted to focus on marketing, accounting or logistical challenges. The opportunity to design my own allowed me to pick the courses and subjects I found most interesting and avoid courses that would add less to the field I wanted to in. During my minor, I got the opportunity to spend a semester abroad. I opted to study in Canada for four months, and it turned out to be one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. In Canada, I got the chance to make friends from literally all over the world, travel around rural Quebec and of course, to study at another university. My class there dealt negotiations: we learned about psychology and convincing people and part of the exam was re-enacting famous historical negotiations.

Opportunity to do more

Besides the ability to choose parts of my own I also got the chance to participate in extracurricular courses and activities, like the Honours College. After the first set of exams in my first year, that I passed with good grades, I was formally invited to apply for the Honours College. Taking the University up on that offer turned out to be one of the best study-related decisions I’ve made. With the Honours College, I have taken some of the most interesting courses of my fours years as a student - courses I would never have taken otherwise. One of my was a course on modern urbanization - as a business and economics student, this wasn’t exactly a subject I was familiar with. But the professor was very enthusiastic and together, we learned to analyze problems in an entirely different way than I was used to.

The city really is our campus

The University’s presence can be felt all over Groningen. No matter where I go, there are students everywhere. As a result, Groningen has adapted itself to students like no other city in the world. The bars and pubs stay open all night, almost every cinema, shop and theatre offers student discount and the bike-centric infrastructure makes getting around on your bike really easy. I love being able to go anywhere in the city and being able to find a place to drink, have a bite or if it’s exam period, study. Because Groningen is a relatively small city, everything in the city is in walking distance and the rest of the city is within fifteen minutes on the bike. The University itself has facilities all over the city. If I’m at the Zernike campus, I can study there, and if I’m the city I can use the University Library to work.