Text: Eva van der Graaf
The much-feared ACT (Academic Consultancy Training). Lisa is working hard on it at the moment. ‘We are doing a project about plant-based massage oil. Luckily we have a nice group, but it is quite tough.’ ACT is Lisa’s last stop in Wageningen. ‘I am moving to Delft, where I am going to do an internship at the phytopathology department of a large seed-processing company. Actually that doesn’t have much to do with my specialism: I do breeding and genetics. But the internship I had applied for was already taken, and then the company offered me this one. Which I thought was interesting too.’
Lisa has mixed feelings about her move. ‘On the one hand I am looking forward to a new start and a new city. But it is a pity to leave my friends here behind. And I shall miss the nature here. I live on campus and I only have to walk 500 metres to be in the countryside.’
Lisa hopes she’ll be offered a job or a traineeship after her internship. ‘So I’ve got something stable at least. Where do I want to live then? Where there are people. Nowhere remote. My social life is far too important to me. You shouldn’t live to work, but work to live.’ But in spite of this attitude, Lisa is a serious student. ‘That’s because at home I was pushed to aim high. My father didn’t go to university and he regrets that. So he always encouraged my brother, my sister and me.’
At home I was pushed to aim high