By Cordélia Moons

Student life at University College Maastricht (UCM)

Maastricht is very much a student city. It is full of students, and a lot of them are from different countries. This makes it easier to fit in as an exchange student, and it also means that language is not as much of a barrier, since most people speak English. At UCM, Universalis (which is a student association) regularly plans events such as drinks at UCM or movie nights and so much more. This is where I was able to meet most of my friends. They are fun and really help you connect to other people who go to UCM.

Since the city is so FULL of students, there are a lot of things which make our life (as students easier and overall better. For example, a lot of places will have reduced prices or deals for students. There is also quite a lot to do in Maastricht. There are lots of museums, such as the natural history museum or the museum of illusions, there are also lots of parks which are especially nice in spring, and there are also a few clubs, of course. Maastricht is a small city, which makes it easy to travel around.

Another really good advantage is that Maastricht is situated somewhat in the middle of Europe. This makes it so much easier to travel around and visit different countries. Especially by train since there is a station in the centre of Maastricht.

The papers I’m taking at UCM

The papers here are extremely different to the papers at Waikato University. They are organised around problem-based learning (PBL). This consists of not having many (or any) lectures and instead having workshops for which you have to study, and then share your findings on the questions given or written in the previous workshop. It forces you to explain what you learn and organise yourself to study in your own time (a lot more than I was used to at Waikato).

During my exchange, I took six papers. The semester is divided into three periods (periods 4, 5 and 6). During periods 4 and 5, I had two core or ‘regular’ courses (per period) which are worth 5 ECTS, and one skill course which is worth 2.5 ECTS. In period 6, I took a course which goes from period 5 to period 6.

The papers I took were:

• SCI2041 Climate Change
• SCI2037 Cell Biology
• SKI2077 Lab Skills: Cell Biology
• SCI2045 Ecology and Resource Management: Understanding our Natural World
• SSC3040 Identities
• PRO3030 Creative Intelligence for Wicked Problems

While there is a lot of information about the courses on the course catalogue of the university, I have found that the climate change paper, the Ecology and Resource Management and the Creative Intelligence for Wicked Problems were my favourites. This is likely due to them being the most linked to my Bachelor of Climate Change major in Ecology and Biodiversity, and these courses really linked well to that and my previous learnings. I found that the Climate Change papers were very all-encompassing of the subject, but probably quite superficial compared to some of the papers I have done at home. It was also very interesting to have a more European-centred view of Climate Change.

The Ecology paper also added to my knowledge, looking more specifically at the ecology of the Netherlands, which I found interesting due to the Netherlands being so different to Aotearoa (New Zealand), especially in terms of biodiversity. The Creative Intelligence for Wicked Problems paper is very interesting because it really is unlike any other paper I have ever taken. It is very student-led, and it allows you to look at wicked problems such as climate change from a very different angle, which can also help you understand the complexity of our world.

Overall, while the papers are extremely different and the adjustment can be tough, I found it very interesting to try a different system.