Examtime

Let’s say it’s not the best time of the year, and that while the year just started, exams. After 10 weeks of hard work & just handing in the final versions of your papers, you have to immediatly start revising, repeating, summarizing and whatever is needed to pass your exams.

I think I suffer from a procastination-syndrome, just like everybody else does. I bet every student recognizes him- or herself in having the intension of ‘only focusing on studies this period so that I can pass this course with at least an 8.5’ on the start of every period. This works for a week, maybe two. And then there is sports, work, travelling and your social life. And that is where you start procastinating studies.

Period 2 for me is always the worst, since it follows immediately after period 1. This sounds silly maybe, but because I don’t have retakes, period 3 only follows period 2 after a week of doing absolutely nothing. After period 1, this is not the case, there is no retake week, so one just goes on and on and on. Ofcourse there is the christmas break, so two weeks before that you start saying: I’ll do my cathing up during the break. But in this break one cannot study either since family, eating and drinking obligations keep you from it. Resulting in the fact that the exams get more stressier than they already were.

I have to warn future master students, during your master you worry much more about passing exams and courses. I’m still not sure if that is because your studies have just gone up some levels in difficulty or that you feel you are kind of done studying and want to start your working life. And for that, you kind of really need to get your degree. Wish me luck, everyone, this week I’m taking two more hurdles to reach this degree.

Topicality

Hi Everyone!

Welcome again to another one of my adventures. It's been a while since I've wrote, cause I think last time I did not even receive grades for the first two courses. Lucky for me (and you since I might not have been here writing to you otherwise) I passed both courses! And now I am already very far into the second period.

This period contains somewhat more let's say accurate topics than the first period had to offer. Since I've chosen to do a master onEconomics of Public Policy and Management and public policy is in the papers every single day this is rather normal and I must say I also like it.

Firstly a few weeks ago we talked about pension schemes during the course of Public Risk Management. Since I'm working at an investment agency that offers pension product (in the Dutch third pillar of the pension system) and is soon to position itself on the market with a product in the collective second pillar this topic was highly interesting for me.

Secondly and more in a broad sense, I'm writing a paper on the EU Emission Trading System. The emission trading system that was implemented to fight what is called the biggest market failure of all times, environment damage (mostly due to greenhouse gasses). A few weeks ago I visited a lecture on this topic, since as of january 2012 this system will be expanded to include aviation companies, EU as well as non-EU airlines. From systems competition theory (broadly talkes about in my other course Policy Competition in an International World) it makes no sense that the EU is doing this, since it can have major competitiveness disadvantages! What we're trying to do is answer why the EU is still implementing this and if the policy is sustainable in an international world.

Thirdly, today we had to hand in our thesis subject proposal if we want to pick our own subject instead of picking from a list of subjects offered by USE. Since I wanted to be sure to really write about a subject I was sure I was going to enjoy writing about I thought through some subjects and eventually decided on writing about the reconciliation of work and family life and the division of labour and care between parents. I'd found the right supervisor for this subject pretty quickly and got her approval for supervising my thesis. And while I handed my registration form in this morning, when I read the Volkskrant this evening there was a column of a D66 politician exactly about this subject!

And that's what I like about this master, that these subjects are talked about in the streets and in the papers, and that I actually learn to think about them in an academic way.

L U I S S

Hi everybody,

recently, I have received Emails from some of you asking questions about LUISS and living in Rome. I think it will be best if I am answering the questions here, so that everybody has the chance to read them.

• Are there many contact hours a week, or is there a lot of self studying?

On average, I have two lectures per day. There are long lectures (3 hours) and short lectures (1,5 hours). LUISS only has about 3000 students in total, the classes are very small (30-40 people). The atmosphere of the lectures is therefore more familiar. Unfortunately, we do not really have tutorials.

In our first semester at LUISS, we had Accounting as well as Financial Markets and Intermediaries. For those two courses, the professors offered tutorials. However, the tutorials always took place with the whole class. In some courses like Marketing and Management we used to have a lot of guest lectures. Those lectures have been held by important and interesting persons with whom you can also get in touch and establish some networks. For instance, this week we had a guest lecture with the Italian general manager of the media department of World Disney.

• And how is daily life as a student in Rome?

Daily life as a student in Rome is great! Rome has one of the biggest ESN associations in Europe and they organize a lot of events, trips and parties. Believe me; you will not get bored in Rome. There is always something to do and every day is different.

• Is LUISS what you expected, what do you think of the courses, how are the lectures and tutorials (comparing to the quality of USE)? How did you experience studying at LUISS?

Since you are not studying Economics, but Business, the courses will be more focused on the micro- rather than on the macro-perspective. Compared to Utrecht, courses are of equal quality, but you will have to do oral exams here. Don’t worry. With oral exams you can mostly increase your grade and even though the whole class will sit in the room chatting and talking while you are having your exam at the front desk with the professor, it is really not as bad as everybody always think it is. During the week, I am spending far more hours at university than I did back in Utrecht.

Studying at LUISS is a lot different compared to Utrecht University. First of all, the semester is far more relaxed than in Utrecht. In the first few weeks, you will have time to party and to follow extra activities. There is no need to bring or buy a printer. LUISS offers you 100 pages of free prints per day. So that’s a very generous service. Even though I am spending more time at university, you still have to study at home. In addition, you should ask some of the Italian students where you can buy books. There is a special shop where you can buy them a lot cheaper.

In case anyone of you has some more questions, do not hesitate to contact me. I am sure that every one of you will like it in Rome and that you are going to have a great time over here!

Resumé Trade Off

Last week all of us economics students faced students’ biggest fear; exams. In particular among master students’, the two exams for empirical economics are seen as a proverbial monster in the closet, causing sleepless nights and bad dreams for a significant part of us. This fear is mostly fear of failing, but also fear of performing bad, cause we would all like to graduate with a terrific GPA don’t we? But then when filling out the application form for the company day of our study association and sending my resumé to get selected to one of the workshops of my potential future employers, I was wondering how important these grades are anyway.

Nowadays companies ask us for quite a filled CV if you ask me. If you haven’t worked during your studies, they cannot judge if you have the right work ethic or teamplayer attitude. It would be nice if you’ve been studying abroad for a little while, to see different countries and explore a little. An internship or a boardyear (but at least some committeework) is absolutely necessary to show you future employer that you know how to work together in a (semi-) professional environment and some signs of a life next to work,committees and studying (for example playing sports on a semi- professional level) could also be of great help finding a job. But then, how would you expect us to also graduate within the expected time (to not face a fee of double our collegefees) and without being a victim of the ‘a-six-is-sufficient-too’ culture among students, Mr. Rutte? Who yourself has studied for about 7 years, I believe.

I myself work for 16 hours a week (yes, also because I can really use the money), I am member of the Advisory Board of the study association and I also try still to have a social life. Combining that with a master studies, does not result in graduating Cum Laude unfortunately. If I look at my fellow students, the one does committeework, the other is member of a educational board, or plays prohockey for about 20-30 hours a week (and does not receive a sportsgrant for that from Utrecht University, which is a shame in my opinion).

There is a definite trade off between grades and extra curricular activities, but I’m still in doubt which of the two will help me get a job next year. Since I also know people that have a resumé to dream about and still have trouble finding a job these days, cause they are competing with people with apparently an even better CV. For now I've made the decision not to graduate with a GPA of 4.0 but focus on other things besides studies. And hopefully visiting these workshops will help me a little with, finding and getting in contact with, my ideal employer cause I’m not looking forward to an endless job search.

Ps. For those who are interested in job opportunities, the company day I’m talking about is on Tuesday the 22^nd of November. It’s free, some good companies are visiting (AS Watson, ORMIT and KPMG among others) and subscriptions are possible via www.bedrijvendag92.nl.

News Feed

Hi everybody!

A quick up-date from Rome. Recently my life has not been that spectacular, due to mid semester exams. Last week, we had to hand in our take-home exam. I managed to complete the essay in time and hopefully successfully. I think the rest of the class completed it as well (it was voluntarily) and we are waiting for our grades now.

The next papers are already in process. For our management course Adrian, August and me have to make a “Business Analysis” for Porsche. I guess that is not going to be that difficult, since we already wrote something similar for our Marketing course last semester. However, I guess way harder is the “Business Challenge Project” which has to be handed in next week. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you details about the project, because everything is top confidential, but since it is a voluntarily project, it had suffered a bit in the last few weeks, meaning that we did not work as much on it as we were supposed to. We all count on a very productive weekend!

Today, I am flying back to Germany, because I have an internship interview. I am planning to take one year off, after I have received my Bachelor degree. I would like to do two internships in order to gain practical experience before doing my masters. Tomorrow, I am going to have an interview at a company in Austria. It is my first serious interview, so I am already quite nervous but at the same time excited what to expect. My next blog will be about the interview….so I hope you will follow-up.

The Take-Home Exam!

Hi everyone!

There are always surprises when it comes to exams at LUISS. What might be familiar for Americans or Australians is not necessarily know by Europeans. A few weeks ago Andrea, our Australian Business Organization teacher informed us that we have to complete a take-home exam instead of a written examination. When I heard this, my first thought was: “What is a take-home exam?” Of course at first sight the enthusiasm in class was great, because everybody thought we can simply take the exam at home. But that is only partly the case. What is it then? Well, I guess every professor has its own way of letting the students do the take-home exam. For Business Organization we have received a case study from Andrea. Our case study is a challenging 19 pages academic article which deals with Ericsson, one of the world’s biggest telecommunications equipment providers. The article gives a guideline, how managers successfully implement IT-enabled change. The findings are based on a three year study, which has been carried out by researchers inside Ericsson. Andrea has uploaded the case on Wednesday. From Wednesday on, we have one week to complete an essay about what Ericsson did right, what they did wrong and what they could change in the future when implementing an IT-enabled change. I am allowed and it is requested that we apply the theory from our book and the lectures to the case. However, we are not allowed to do any research about Ericsson or communicate with other students about it. Apparently, professors in the US and Australia have had good experiences with take-home exams, because I just heard from a friend who is currently on exchange at Berkeley University in California that they have to do this as well! So far I went through the theory and the article. The challenging part is going to start tomorrow: writing the essay!

On Holy Grounds

Hi There!

On Saturday we have been on holy grounds: The Vatican Gardens (Italian: Giardini Vaticani). This trip was organized by ESN Roma LUISS. In order to take part in the ESN Roma LUISS activities, you have to go to their office in Via di Trasone 56 and sign up for it. Even though the office is at the back of beyond, it is always worth it going there, because most trips are sold out immediately.

The tour started on Saturday morning at 9.30h. Meeting point was the obelisk on the St. Peter’s Square. Half of the group was late though because we went to an Erasmus party on Friday night and most of us arrived home only a few hours before the tour started. A few minutes after I have arrived, our tour guide showed up. His name was Toni and he was a funny, young, German priest. Toni had to replace another priest who was our actual tour-guide. He was very nervous, because usually he is guiding the tours in German and not in English. He already prepared us at the beginning that his English is very bad and……it was. The Germans, who were at the trip, had to translate words which he did not know and sometimes he was mixing German words in his sentences so that non-Germans only understood half of what he said. Anyways, we had a lot of fun with Toni and it was a very informative tour.

After everyone had been arrived, we went into the gardens which cover more than half of the Vatican territory in the South and Northeast and which are usually out of the touristic itineraries. We first went into the Campo Santo, a German cemetery with the corresponding church Santa Maria della Pietá. Afterwards we walked through the gardens and parks which have been established during the Renaissance and Baroque. Toni showed us around in the perfectly manicured gardens which contain important fortifications and monuments as well as beautiful grottoes and fountains dating from the 9th century to the present day. Toni explained us that no one is allowed to be in the gardens from 13h-17h because the doctor prescribed the Pope to take a walk in there every day. The gardens are not only there for walks, they are also place for quiet and meditation for the Pope. In addition, they house the Vatican Radio Station and other important buildings.

In total, our tour lasted 2 ½ hours. It was impressive to see the huge gardens and great to have a priest as tour-guide because this gave us insight into the real Vatican world. If you open the link, you can see pictures from the Vatican gardens and a short description to it.

http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monuments/The_Vatican_Gardens/