Don’t look at the DUO website, and you won’t see how much you owe. It’s one of the survival strategies of students in the era of the student loan system. But how do you deal with the stress? There’s a more complex issue. VOX invited a student panel to respond to some statements on what it’s like to be a student in 2019. ‘The more you do now, the more likely you are to get a good job later.’

Apparently, it matters very much whether you study Law or Biology. A world of difference, in fact, when it comes to performance pressure. Consider our first statement:

Statement 1: Success in your studies means getting high grades.

Arie Boel, second-year Law student, can only agree. ‘At the Law faculty, students are expected to get high grades, especially in the Master’s programme. If you don’t graduate with good grades, you won’t be able to get into a good law firm. Or you have to find some other way to stand out, for example with a double Master’s degree.’

Boel himself does his utmost to stand out among the huge flock of Law students – of whom there are currently 3264 at Radboud University alone. Working at a big law firm is definitely his ambition. ‘Better to aim high, you can always adjust your expectations later.’

He’s active at study association JFV, works at the legal advice centre in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and is faculty manager (a kind of location manager) for AthenaStudies, an organisation offering exam training to law students. ‘That way I can show my future employer all that I’m capable of. This attitude is common to many students at our faculty. It’s hard to avoid being swept along by it.’

What a difference with Lars van Dijk, second-year Biology student. ‘I study for myself and I think most of us have this kind of attitude. I don’t care about grades. I’m very happy with a 5.5. After all, it’s a pass.’ As long as he knows that he understands the material. If he later decides to go into research, this kind of book knowledge won’t help him much anyway, he believes. ‘As a researcher, if you’re the first to discover an unknown protein, you have to figure out what it is. It’s all about insight, not lists of minor facts.’

Put eight students with different backgrounds and interests around a table, and you’re sure to get a lively discussion. One that gives a pretty good idea of what it’s like to be a student in 2019 – the ever-present social media, the unavoidable study loan debt, the advantages of your parents’ magical self-emptying laundry basket, the stress caused by the Binding Study Advice (‘I actually find it quite motivating’), the idealism of today’s students, the many available choices, and the break-down (‘call it a burn-out’) that sometimes follows.

Two panel members still live at home with their parents. Student of Political Science Mike van Diemen (third year) because as a Council Member for GroenLinks in Cuijk he’s required to reside in that municipality. At the moment he kind of enjoys the ease of emptying his dirty washing in the laundry basket, only to find it neatly folded in his cupboard.

As for Arie Boel, he doesn’t really see the need to move out. ‘I live in Arnhem, and the commute takes me half an hour, door to door. I know someone who lives in Nijmegen and takes longer to get to class.’ Plus, his international travels in the context of study association JFV leave little money for renting a room. ‘In May I’m going to Toronto, and you can bet that it’ll cost a pretty penny.’

Statement 2: Studying is a time to enjoy one’s freedom.

Willemijn Smit, who studies both Mathematics and Law, agrees with the statement. ‘Although I have some obligations at the Law faculty, in the Mathematics department I’m really free to organise my time as it suits me. All lectures are recorded and there are no compulsory seminars. Outside the exam periods I always have time to do fun things.’

Thomas Keulemans, active at Changing Perspective and Philosophy student, has been enjoying his freedom to the full for seven years now. ‘For me, studying is one big voyage of discovery. I’m trying to gain as much knowledge as possible to help me shape my own vision of the world.’ He now finally feels ready to put an end to his studies and explore the world outside academia.

But for Mike van Diemen, all this freedom can also be a bit problematic. ‘I find it hard to say ‘no’,’ he says, a little embarrassed. This manifested last year in a long list of extracurricular activities, in retrospect too many. ‘When the election results came in and I found out I’d been elected to the Municipal Council, I really had to set my priorities. My work as a Council Member has been my top priority ever since.’

‘When I first started studying, I felt I had to grab every opportunity that came my way.’

‘The University provides lots of opportunities to do other things alongside your studies, which is a great freedom,’ says Sarah Karsten, Chairwoman of the Nijmeegse Studenten Honoursvereniging (NSHV). ‘You can join all kinds of associations, and develop and grow in so many different ways. I really like the Honours programme. It brings me into contact with other disciplines and people I would never get to meet otherwise. But the down side of all these opportunities is that you run the risk of becoming very busy. And the question is whether in the end, this helps you feel free.’

Personally, she finds it quite difficult to make choices, and often ends up doing too much as a result. ‘Sometimes I think: what am I doing to myself?’

Ali Aljarrah, Public Administration student and top athlete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, nods enthusiastically to Sarah. ‘It’s exactly as you say: you have so much freedom and you don’t want to miss out on anything. But when you give in to it, you automatically acquire a lot of obligations. Your student days are the time in your life when you have most freedom. Before that you’re at secondary school, afterwards you get a job. Now you’re free and you get to do all these fun things. When I first started studying, I felt I had to grab every opportunity that came my way.’

And he did just that, with both hands. A year on the board of the Nijmegen Student Sports Council (NSSR), while he continued to study and train as a top athlete, led to a breakdown in his third year. ‘Call it a burn-out.’ And yet, in the end, it turned out for the best: ‘After a year like that, you have to take time to self-reflect: What really matters to me? This helped me set priorities, and grow as a student and as a person.’

Sander van der Goes, Chairman of the AKKUraatd party on the University Student Council (USC) and student of Geography, Planning and Environment, knows all about it. He was also forced to face his limitations. The reason was his work for the Council in combination with competition-level football. A year ago, he found himself completely exhausted. ‘I couldn’t sleep, had stomach problems, and couldn’t eat anything. My head was spinning. It was a really difficult period.’

He quit some activities and now forces himself to take it easy. ‘People often have the idea that they should warn students against making mistakes. My parents also often tell me that I shouldn’t take on too much. But it’s not such a bad thing to really come up against a wall once in a while. If you’re ambitious and you want to get the most out of everything, it’s good to experience that there are limits to what you can do. Especially during your studies, as you’re transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, it’s good to get to know your limitations. And this is precisely what happened to me.’ A level-headed perspective: ‘I think in that sense I’ve already succeeded in my studies.’

Statement 3: I don’t mind having a study loan debt.

These days to study almost automatically means to accrue a debt. ‘You don’t have much choice,’ says mathematician-in-training Willemijn Smit. ‘If you want to study, you need a student loan. Most students in the Mathematics department don’t worry about it much. They believe that they will get a job that will allow them to reimburse their study loan,’ she says, ‘but they do worry about how high the loan is. I myself wouldn’t want to borrow the maximum amount.’

‘I couldn’t eat anything. My head was spinning’

At the Law faculty, debts from study loans are also not an issue, as far as Boel can see. ‘Our motto is: stay away from the DUO website, so you don’t have to watch your debt grow.’ The other students burst out laughing. The legal expert: ‘Seriously, this is pretty much our attitude. Just the other day I spoke to someone with a debt of €80,000. He didn’t care a hoot.’

Personally, he believes students should get the most out of their studies, even if this means a higher study loan debt. ‘The more you do now, the more likely you are to get a good job later.’
Thomas Keulemans does worry about it. He says the study loan system is reducing the accessibility of university study programmes. ‘There are lots of people who can’t afford to study at all, because their parents are unable to help them financially.’ Keulemans believes that this creates an ever more homogenous group of university students, which ultimately doesn’t serve society.

Sarah Karsten sees another consequence. She notices that students are less keen to engage in extracurricular activities. ‘People don’t want to suffer any study delays, because that means borrowing more money.’ Smit adds: ‘For years now, we’ve had trouble finding candidates for the Faculty Student Council at FNWI (the science faculty, Eds.). Students have lots of ideas about how to improve things at the faculty, but they don’t dare to commit for a whole year. I think it’s a great pity.’ Sander van der Goes: ‘Many associations have trouble finding candidates for their boards and committees. It’s a shame, because the associations play an important role in binding students to the University.’

Statement 4: The BSA also provides an attractive additional incentive.

Another thing that prevents students from joining in extracurricular activities is the Binding Study Advice (BSA), says the AKKUraatd Chairman. ‘And this while it’s a great way to develop and grow.’ He also knows that the BSA causes additional stress for first-year students. ‘We carried out a survey at the AKKUraatd. We found out that one third of first-year students experience stress in the first semester because of the prospect of the BSA. We were shocked to hear this. It’s simply not a good way to motivate students.’

Legal expert Arie Boel, on the other hand, does agree with our statement. ‘At our faculty, the BSA is set at 45 course credits. It makes you think: I have to show right away what I’m capable of. So you work hard on your study programme from the start. In this way the BSA can act as a motivator.’ Boel sees that the BSA quickly separates students into two groups: ‘Those who make it and those who can’t handle the pressure or lack motivation.’

This dividing line is much too sharp at present, says Van der Goes: ‘If you don’t pass your BSA, you simply can’t proceed with your studies. I’d much rather have a student advisor giving people an urgent recommendation in the course of an interview: “Hey, you’re missing two courses, how did that happen?”’

The Public Administration department has united these two approaches, says Aljarrah. ‘As early as January, if it looks like you might not make the BSA, you’re invited for an interview with the student advisor.’
‘That’s right’, responds Van der Goes. ‘But imagine you end up not making it by a fraction? Then you have to leave. What a pity!’

The BSA and the study loan system make today’s students ‘indifferent and apolitical’, says Thomas Keulemans. No, it doesn’t, responds Mike van Diemen. ‘At the Political Science department we sometimes organise seat polls for the House of Representatives, and both GroenLinks and D66 get fifty seats. So the leftist activist spirit is still alive. It’s just that most students don’t do much with it. Due to lack of time, I think.’ In the Biology department, Lars also notices the students’ activism. ‘Plenty of our students are concerned about the environment and they make this very clear.’

Statement 5: Social media distract me from my studies.

Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp. Social media is as normal for modern-day students as cycling and sitting exams. But they do have a love-hate relationship with it. ‘You always end up comparing yourself to others,’ says Ali Aljarrah. ‘All your friends show off on Instagram. The parties they go to, the travelling they do, but also the grades they get. It makes you think: Why can’t I afford a trip to Thailand?’

Aljarrah readily admits that he’s guilty of the same. ‘You want to share everything you do, and you’re curious how people respond.’
All very recognisable, acquiesces Willemijn Smit. ‘Lots of my secondary school friends have now completed their Bachelor’s programmes. They then take a year off or go abroad. When you see their pictures, it’s hard not to compare yourself to them.’

It’s only when she consciously goes offline that Sarah Karsten notices how much stress social media cause. ‘Sometimes I simply turn off the Wi-Fi, for example when I’m studying for an exam. I really have to do this.’

Council Member Van Diemen must always be reachable, he says, because of his political position. ‘If something happens, journalists must be able to get in touch and ask me for my opinion as a Council Member. You don’t want them calling someone else.’

Biologist Van Dijk seems to be the only one in the group not to suffer from FOMO or fear of missing out (according to Karsten). He frequently leaves his phone at home. ‘Why the hell would I take it with me to go shopping?’ The Biology student even closed his Instagram account. ‘It was driving me nuts.’ He didn’t like the app’s exhibitionist streak. ‘What do I care what people eat?’ But he does have another time-consuming hobby: computer games.