Study at VU University Amsterdam and experience Amsterdam!
About studying an international Bachelor or Master at VU University Amsterdam and living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I am Larissa and this is my last post of a series of 4! With things less busy now, I want to tell you about the last months of this master experience and give you an overview of my year. I have completed the master programme Law and Politics of International Security at the VU, year 2014/2015. I came from Brazil to the Netherlands on August 2014 and a lot have happened since then. The last months of my master at the VU were extremely intense. I cannot describe in words how intense the second half of my academic year was. I committed myself 110% to my final thesis and it was everything but easy. Fortunately, I had the support of my family, of my close friends and of my supervisor. They all, especially my supervisor, were crucial for my success in the end. The whole year was as stressful as it could be but I could learn a lot from it:) I also have met the most incredible people along my way and I have been to places and experienced things I am sure I would never had if I had not chosen to come to The Netherlands.
When you are doing a master’s programme you probably will not be able to attend many social events, staying focus is very important. However, it is also important to build a relationship with people that are going through a similar moment in life and with whom you can share your difficulties and achievements. I met incredible people living on my building and studying/working at the VU. Trust me, having social relations and moments to escape the heaviness of life is also very important to keep your sanity going:) The people I met in Amsterdam were definitely the best and the most unexpected aspect of my year.
I did not visit many other places in Europe but I could definitely visit a lot of the Netherlands and especially a lot of Amsterdam. Amsterdam has many great spots that vary from cute to alternative to fancy. Close to where I lived I enjoyed going to the Biertuin, to the Roest and to the Kriterion cinema. With respect to the country, I found the Netherlands great: it is super organized and pretty, everything is perfectly designed and it is small, which means that you can visit a lot! The weather is the only disturbing thing about this country. I had to use my winter coat 99,99% of the year, many the times with an additional raincoat over it. Whenever it is sunny and hot, people celebrate it as ifit was national holidays. My family came to visit me this summer and when they arrived it was pretty hot! During the year some of my best Brazilian and international friends came to visit me too and having them around was awesome!
My house in Pierre Lallementstraat was also one of the highlights of this year. I thought that the place would be nice but I did not expect that I would like it so much. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to my house after one year living there. The building is new and it is located in a very nice area of Amsterdam. The studios are super big for one person and, despite of the lack of common areas, there is a facebook page where people organize meetings and keep in touch. In addition, if you are doing a master programme you will probably need a lot of privacy to study and the least amount of stress possible, so living alone in the studio definitely was an asset for me. If you prefer studying at the University instead of home, the VU offer many nice spots and it is open till very late. The 7th floor, where I liked to study, became my second home in Amsterdam:) During the weekends, in order to vary from the university environment, I used to go to Amsterdam’s public library (OBA). OBA is in the centre of Amsterdam and many students go there and stay till late on Saturdays and Sundays. The public library is the best library I have ever studied in. It is huge and extremely beautiful. It is not particularly quiet because many tourists and teenagers visit the library during the weekends. Still, many people of all ages go there to study and you should arrive early in order to get a spot.
After submitting my thesis I went for a summer vacation in Brazil and it was absolutely great! Being back home after so long was super weird and super normal at the same time. Going out with my friends was just amazing and I felt like I had never left the country:). After this visit I came back to The Netherlands and I started an internship at the ICTY Tribunal in The Hague. Job hunting is the next step and only time will tell what the future holds and what the next adventure will be!
Finally, for all of you who have started or are going to start your studies at the VU, I wish you the best of luck! Work hard, keep your nerves and enjoy the experience!
About studying an international Bachelor or Master at VU University Amsterdam and living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I am Larissa and this is my last post of a series of 4! With things less busy now, I want to tell you about the last months of this master experience and give you an overview of my year. I have completed the master programme Law and Politics of International Security at the VU, year 2014/2015. I came from Brazil to the Netherlands on August 2014 and a lot have happened since then. The last months of my master at the VU were extremely intense. I cannot describe in words how intense the second half of my academic year was. I committed myself 110% to my final thesis and it was everything but easy. Fortunately, I had the support of my family, of my close friends and of my supervisor. They all, especially my supervisor, were crucial for my success in the end. The whole year was as stressful as it could be but I could learn a lot from it:) I also have met the most incredible people along my way and I have been to places and experienced things I am sure I would never had if I had not chosen to come to The Netherlands.
When you are doing a master’s programme you probably will not be able to attend many social events, staying focus is very important. However, it is also important to build a relationship with people that are going through a similar moment in life and with whom you can share your difficulties and achievements. I met incredible people living on my building and studying/working at the VU. Trust me, having social relations and moments to escape the heaviness of life is also very important to keep your sanity going:) The people I met in Amsterdam were definitely the best and the most unexpected aspect of my year.
I did not visit many other places in Europe but I could definitely visit a lot of the Netherlands and especially a lot of Amsterdam. Amsterdam has many great spots that vary from cute to alternative to fancy. Close to where I lived I enjoyed going to the Biertuin, to the Roest and to the Kriterion cinema. With respect to the country, I found the Netherlands great: it is super organized and pretty, everything is perfectly designed and it is small, which means that you can visit a lot! The weather is the only disturbing thing about this country. I had to use my winter coat 99,99% of the year, many the times with an additional raincoat over it. Whenever it is sunny and hot, people celebrate it as ifit was national holidays. My family came to visit me this summer and when they arrived it was pretty hot! During the year some of my best Brazilian and international friends came to visit me too and having them around was awesome!
My house in Pierre Lallementstraat was also one of the highlights of this year. I thought that the place would be nice but I did not expect that I would like it so much. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to my house after one year living there. The building is new and it is located in a very nice area of Amsterdam. The studios are super big for one person and, despite of the lack of common areas, there is a facebook page where people organize meetings and keep in touch. In addition, if you are doing a master programme you will probably need a lot of privacy to study and the least amount of stress possible, so living alone in the studio definitely was an asset for me. If you prefer studying at the University instead of home, the VU offer many nice spots and it is open till very late. The 7th floor, where I liked to study, became my second home in Amsterdam:) During the weekends, in order to vary from the university environment, I used to go to Amsterdam’s public library (OBA). OBA is in the centre of Amsterdam and many students go there and stay till late on Saturdays and Sundays. The public library is the best library I have ever studied in. It is huge and extremely beautiful. It is not particularly quiet because many tourists and teenagers visit the library during the weekends. Still, many people of all ages go there to study and you should arrive early in order to get a spot.
After submitting my thesis I went for a summer vacation in Brazil and it was absolutely great! Being back home after so long was super weird and super normal at the same time. Going out with my friends was just amazing and I felt like I had never left the country:). After this visit I came back to The Netherlands and I started an internship at the ICTY Tribunal in The Hague. Job hunting is the next step and only time will tell what the future holds and what the next adventure will be!
Finally, for all of you who have started or are going to start your studies at the VU, I wish you the best of luck! Work hard, keep your nerves and enjoy the experience!
