Advice Column

Dear fellow scholarship holders and interested people,

Starting higher education comes with challenges. One might be deciding what to study. Sometimes the decision can be so difficult that you want to do everything at once.
I was in a similar situation about a year ago. I had loved chemistry for years and spent a lot of my spare time learning more about it, but as the years went by I realised that I was most interested in the overlap between chemistry and physics. I became so interested in physics that I decided to study both at the same time. 
Now it’s been almost a year since I started my Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry (100%) and Physics (100%) and I’ve learnt a lot. Since everyone’s experience is so different, I can’t give advice on what to do, but I can talk about what I wish I had known before I started my degree. 

1. Every faculty is different
It’s really important to get to know your faculties and how they’re organised. While the physics faculty likes to make their information readily available and easy to find, the chemistry faculty likes their students to take more initiative. Examination regulations can also be very different. Physics rarely requires prerequisites for modules, while chemistry almost always does, which can restrict how you organise your studies.

2. Set priorities
Everyone’s day only has 24 h, but sometimes I thought I could stretch that. Not only is that impossible, but I often forgot about myself and my needs. Everything seemed so important, but in reality there is always a way to prioritise.

3. Chemistry: labs are hard
Chemistry labs can be nerve-wrecking. You’re often left to figure things out on your own and experiments sometimes don’t work out. In that time I realised that nothing was more important than the support from other students. Collaborating, asking others for help, but also being helpful to others made the long lab days a bit more enjoyable. I am really grateful to have met my lab partners and I can only encourage others to not be afraid to ask for help.

4. The university environment may surprise and change you
When I started studying, my expectations didn’t always turn out to be reality. I’ve had really great but also really bad times and that is just part of the experience. Even though I didn’t expect it, these experiences led to a shift in interest for my subjects. They also made me realise what kind of environment I want to be a part of and what I don’t want. Both are very valuable lessons.

I wish you all the best.

Melissa :D