Noa Reijerse
What is it like to be a Psychology student? Three questions for Noa Reijerse (bachelor, first year).
What is the most useful thing that you’ve learned from Psychology?
‘The most useful thing I’ve learned from psychology is how groups work: how the minute you are part of group, you experience diffusion of responsibility and how this can prevent you from helping others in emergency situations. This information has caused me to pay more attention to my behavior related to responsibility in groups. Whenever I feel like someone should be helped, I try to distinguish myself from the group and remind myself that I am still an individual with my own responsibility.’
What do you like and dislike about Psychology at UvA?
‘What I really like about studying Psychology at UvA is the way the lectures are given. The average psychology student feels quite some hatred towards statistics, but the way it was given, with lots of fun examples and by enthusiastic teachers, made me actually like the subject. Concerning the clinical psychology course in particular, I liked the little clips of actual patients being shown every once in a while.
What I don’t like about our study is the occasional lack of information. For example, it would have been really useful if we were told that one of the subjects, Brain and Cognition, contained many details on biology. I honestly think I would have enjoyed that course so much more if I had been given the chance to follow a little biology course for beginners in advance. I don’t expect UvA to provide such a course, but there is plenty of information online that would have made following a biology course on academic level much easier for someone like me, who has little to no knowledge about biology.’
What do you wish UvA would do for the well-being of their students and has studying during the pandemic affected your well-being?
‘Maybe UvA could arrange for the mentors to ask their tutorial group how everyone is doing and set aside about 20 minutes every two weeks or so to collectively discuss this topic. It probably would be comforting to know that more people are having a hard time spending this much time alone and at home and that they can find support in one another. I know that there are people at UvA you can talk to when things become hard for you, but for more chaotic people like me, being told once where to find these people might not be enough to remember that talking to them is an option.
Personally, I think studying at UvA has affected my well-being in both positive and negative ways. On one hand, I feel like I’m doing something useful while studying. On the other hand, it can be quite isolating at times to have to withdraw yourself from positive social experiences in order to study. With regards to studying during this pandemic in particular, not seeing my classmates in person has been quite a bummer and has made me feel like I’m missing out on meeting new people, especially while being relatively new in the city.’
Noa Reijerse
What is it like to be a Psychology student? Three questions for Noa Reijerse (bachelor, first year).
What is the most useful thing that you’ve learned from Psychology?
‘The most useful thing I’ve learned from psychology is how groups work: how the minute you are part of group, you experience diffusion of responsibility and how this can prevent you from helping others in emergency situations. This information has caused me to pay more attention to my behavior related to responsibility in groups. Whenever I feel like someone should be helped, I try to distinguish myself from the group and remind myself that I am still an individual with my own responsibility.’
What do you like and dislike about Psychology at UvA?
‘What I really like about studying Psychology at UvA is the way the lectures are given. The average psychology student feels quite some hatred towards statistics, but the way it was given, with lots of fun examples and by enthusiastic teachers, made me actually like the subject. Concerning the clinical psychology course in particular, I liked the little clips of actual patients being shown every once in a while.
What I don’t like about our study is the occasional lack of information. For example, it would have been really useful if we were told that one of the subjects, Brain and Cognition, contained many details on biology. I honestly think I would have enjoyed that course so much more if I had been given the chance to follow a little biology course for beginners in advance. I don’t expect UvA to provide such a course, but there is plenty of information online that would have made following a biology course on academic level much easier for someone like me, who has little to no knowledge about biology.’
What do you wish UvA would do for the well-being of their students and has studying during the pandemic affected your well-being?
‘Maybe UvA could arrange for the mentors to ask their tutorial group how everyone is doing and set aside about 20 minutes every two weeks or so to collectively discuss this topic. It probably would be comforting to know that more people are having a hard time spending this much time alone and at home and that they can find support in one another. I know that there are people at UvA you can talk to when things become hard for you, but for more chaotic people like me, being told once where to find these people might not be enough to remember that talking to them is an option.
Personally, I think studying at UvA has affected my well-being in both positive and negative ways. On one hand, I feel like I’m doing something useful while studying. On the other hand, it can be quite isolating at times to have to withdraw yourself from positive social experiences in order to study. With regards to studying during this pandemic in particular, not seeing my classmates in person has been quite a bummer and has made me feel like I’m missing out on meeting new people, especially while being relatively new in the city.’
