This post was inspired by a recent open day of the Anton de Kom university of Suriname where I had the chance to talk to aspiring students about my experience during my studies and afterwards. One question all of them asked was "is it a difficult study?". I tell all of them yes.
The picture above is one the first and most memorable pictures I took in my first year in university. The story behind the picture at the end.

After highschool

I graduated from high school in 2013 and almost immediately started a vacation job as magazine boy. I was running around behind the scenes of a store counting incoming products and usually also labelling them.
I was really uncertain about what I wanted to study moving forward. I knew my interest went out to ICT and biology. So I went to any open day I could on related studies. I soon found out that any higher professional education was way out of my budget. The national university, namely Anton de Kom University of Suriname(ADEK), was the only one I could afford at the time.
Then the choice became much easier from there on. The closest thing the university had to a bachelor's of science in biology, was the bachelor's of science in environmental sciences. It had to be that one.

Nightmarish first year

My first year at the university was a disaster. I was not ready for the learning curve and I was not aware that I never wrote a decent report before. All of the teachers complained about the horrible quality of the reports. I failed a lot of my classes in my first year. At face value it was just a failure of an academic year. There were many times that I felt like a complete idiot.
Yet I remember it fondly. I was very active in extra curriculars. The seniors were super friendly. Environmental sciences is a smaller study. Usually having new students in groups of max 20. So every year of students of environmental sciences knew each other on campus.
I decided to keep trying after the first year. You get more than one chance to complete a class, so failing the first time around was not the end.

Kind of getting the hang of it

After my second year I had failed enough to know what I was doing wrong. Yet I still messed up here and there. The most notable one was not handing in my final reports for a class in time. It became an ordeal. It was my second time taking the class. Meaning I had one chance left, the next year. That's when you get treated like a criminal, because you have a last chance left. You get fun meetings from the university, where they basically call you deadweight. I'm sure they mean well, but man those were grim. It has a happy ending though. I do end up successfully finishing that class and finishing my thesis.

The story behind the Picture

The picture above is the coast of Suriname. The coast of Suriname is very dynamic. In most places in the coast the first line of defense are black mangrove (Avicenna germinans). These days I talk about these subjects with a lot more confidence. This picture takes me back to my first trip with environmental sciences back in October 2013. When I was completely new to it all.
It reminds me of the first time I saw the coast so up close. There was a research hut out in the mangroves with a constructed path leading all the way to the coast through the mangroves. That was one of the stops on our orientation roadtrip.
Another fun tidbit about me. I get very scared walking on a constructed path through mangroves WITHOUT railings. Yes I was kind of inching myself forward. The wind was merciless and definitely not helping.
I am so very happy I was curious to see the coast up close. It was so awesome. Seeing the black mangroves sway in the wind and so many birds. A lovely memory. Something to remind myself things are usually not easy, but I can make it work.

Things I always tell students

1. Yes it is hard. Whatever study you take.
You're going to have to read and you're going to have put time into it.
2. Don't give up after the first try.
If you have more than one chance, failing the first time is not the end of the world. Try again.
3. Do volunteer work or help with project. You need to get out there and experience working with others. Working outside of the class can be very different.

Still considering what other university experiences to share, because there are many. Considering something of a series.🤔
In any case, glad to be #alive