My name is Siem, and after 7 years at the University of Groningen I thought I experienced it all, but then Covid-19 came along...

Having been a student at the University of Groningen since 2014, I initially chose their bachelor programme on business administration over the bachelor in law. It took a course called "Legal aspects of business management" to rekindle my interest in the field of law. And after spending a semester abroad at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, I enrolled for the Dutch bachelor track in law.  Immediately, my passion focussed on international law and the politics that are inevitably intertwined with it. After finishing my bachelor's degree, it was not hard to determine where my interests in law were (and still are). I chose the Public International Law LLM over the International Human Rights Law LLM based on the information available on the website of the University of Groningen. More specifically the course catalogue where it is possible to compare LLMs and the courses that are part of them.

After spending most of 2020 with online education from the University of Groningen, it came as no surprise that there would be no changes for the start of the LLM. Considering the still imposed travel restrictions for many (non-)European countries it was no surprise that also the second semester of the 2020-2021 academic year would be online as well. By staying online, the University allowed the international students to remain in the programme and I'm very happy they did. I have the fortune of sharing an apartment with my lovely girlfriend who is currently following the Dutch law track of the bachelor. I get to share not just the apartment, but also the experiences with online exams, online education and online social activities with her.

Of course, nothing can replace physical lectures and the interaction with fellow students and professors they provide. However, especially considering the small groups of students in most international LLM-courses (about 30-40), interaction is still possible. Through messenger-apps, we get to stay in touch outside of the classes and even have a drink or two in online sessions. 

After some initial hiccups in the online exam-environment, the wrinkles have been ironed out and most exams take place without problem. An online exam has both benefits and disadvantages.  The comfort of your own home can reduce stress that the orange walls of the Aletta Jacobs Hal might inflict on some. Since you are now allowed to use, for some courses, your lecture notes and other available documents the questions now focus even more on the application of your acquired knowledge. On the downside, the order of questions has been randomised and all questions must be answered in the order they are presented to you. Completely understandable in the prevention of cheating or collaboration with other students, you have no time to dwell on the answer of a question you find difficult. You cannot skip a tough question and come back to it later, you simply need to do the best you can. Luckily, professors are aware of those hardships.

Just like we students miss the contact with our professors, they seem to miss us too.  They join in on online social activities and they make their lectures as interesting and interactive as possible. I can definitely recommend others studying online from home to stay in touch with others in their programme. Also, make sure you know when to call it a day! Studying is important, but so is free time. Especially now most sports clubs are shut down, the bars are closed, and travelling abroad is near impossible, make sure you find time for your hobbies.

With the academic year slowly coming to a close, I absolutely look forward to writing my thesis on Non-State actors in outer space and finishing the last courses. It has been a long and exciting journey but I have loved it (almost) every step along the way.

- Siem van Ostaden, Netherlands, Public Internaional Law student

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