I don’t know how the Dutch students cope with studying in Wageningen, but for internationals it is very difficult. The courses are so tough, that sometimes it is difficult to go along with them. This seems to be typical for WUR. It is not very common to hear of students failing at other universities.
Often, this high study pressure results in people getting depressed. Last year, a student died in Bornsesteeg. The causes were unknown, but there were rumours that he had a depression, caused by the burden the studies had put on him. Maybe soothing words and cooperation from study supervisors and faculties, and encouraging talks from friends could have saved his life.
When talking with friends yesterday, who have all come from abroad to study in Wageningen, we came to the realisation that although we had all been here for a year and a half, we never had a single moment to sit back and chat about anything else than our studies. For the past year and half we have been rushing from one class to another, even during the summer break time.
It is true that we came here to study. But shouldn’t there also be time to make friends and enjoy good moments together? Yesterday I realised that ever since I came to Wageningen, there hasn’t even been one weekend that I could simply enjoy without thinking of my studies.
Studying in Wageningen might be hard, even too hard at times, but on the other hand, this has pushed the academics of WUR to be among the best in the world, as many rankings show.
Hats off to our pressure coping capabilities!