Interview

Shannon Morrison (20) – Studying in Groningen for a year

Shannon is a psychology student at the McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She is studying in Groningen for a year, doing the Bachelor Exchange program. She has always been thinking about studying abroad. In high school she had been to France for a while and really enjoyed it. The idea of a new culture and meeting new people is appealing to her. She ended up in Groningen by chance. She wanted to go to a country where English is not the native language, but where the university offers courses in English. The University of Groningen happened to have an exchange program with her university, so she ended up here.

Shannon likes Groningen because the city and the university are quite small in comparison to Montreal. This way it is easier to meet people. In Groningen there is a lot to do for students. She lives in an International House, so that she has the chance to meet new people from all over the world. The disadvantage, she says, is that she has met few Dutch people and that she is not learning too much about Dutch culture. For this reason she suggested that it would be nice if you spend the first half of your study period in an International House so that you can meet lots of people, and the second half in a regular Dutch student house so that you can experience more of Dutch culture.

According to Shannon, the advantage of studying at another university is that you see everything in a new perspective. You are able to follow courses you couldn’t have done at your own university and everything is discussed from a slightly different angle. When you go abroad for a while you learn to be independent and to change and adapt.