‘I’m glad that I did it, but it was really difficult,’ Reijnders says about her experiences at LSE.
‘It wasn’t so much the material as the enormously high studying speed.
The academic year has 39 weeks, but only 20 of them are lecture weeks.
All of the exams are held at the end of the year.
In the last 12 weeks, all I did was revise – it was a really tough period.’
Differences with Groningen
The setup of the academic year was not the only striking difference, explains Reijnders.
‘The students are much more motivated, but also suffer from heavy pressure.
That was sometimes frightening to see.
Everyone knows that you only get one chance to pass the exam – failing is not an option.
To a great extent, studying at LSE is a test of endurance –
can you perform in a short period of time and under great pressure.
That I actually managed to graduate cum laude was a lovely surprise.’
In London, Reijnders was taught by famous lecturers, including Nobel Laureate Christopher Pissarides.
‘That was very special, and very inspiring too’, according to Reijnders.
‘I want to try to stay in touch with the lecturers I got to know personally.
And in the future I want to do research with a student I met in London.’
Return to FEB
In September Reijnders will be returning to the Faculty of Economics and Business, as a PhD student of Prof. Ben Heijdra.
‘We have already worked rather intensively together for some years.
That went very well and I’m delighted to be continuing with him.
I don’t know yet what exactly I’ll be researching’, says Reijnders.
‘For the time being I want to forget all about macroeconomics, though.
I really need a bit of relaxation.’
