Month of the Majors - Student blog PPE

By Tjitske Schokker, major student Philosophy, Politics & Economics

Hi! I am Tjitske, a third year student at University College Groningen and I am doing the major Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE). In this blog I will tell something about this major – why did I choose it and what kind of courses am I taking within this major?

This story already starts in my first year at UCG. Just as most people who decide to go apply for a University College, I have a very broad interest. When I started my studies, I was determined to find out my exact main interest by the end of my first year – the moment when I would have to pick a major. However, this moment came closer and closer and I was still enjoying most of my courses, whether it was physics, psychology or economics.

As the summer vacation, and thus the moment to make a decision came closer, I found myself stuck. I talked a lot to people: my parents, friends, teachers and fellow students but none of them could convince me to take one major or another. In hindsight this is very obvious, as it is a decision you should make by yourself. But with all this input, I started thinking about future perspectives. What do I see myself doing “when I grow up…”?

That’s the moment when I realized that I’d always been interested in the work of (aid) organizations like UNICEF and the Red Cross. Although it may have been a dream job of me 10 years ago to work for such an organization, it is what helped me decide on what major to choose. But, it was still a bit of a gamble.

In the second year at UCG I have been doubting myself a lot on whether I picked the right major. It became clear to me that political science (which is a rather important part of the mandatory subjects within the major) was not exactly my cup of tea. However, as I started to design my own program by filling in the free space within the major with courses that were more tailored to my interest, I started to enjoying this field of science more and more.

What kind of courses I took? Mostly Development Studies and Political Economy. My interests in world dynamics started to grow as my knowledge about this increased. I started to see the complexity (which sometimes frustrated me – and still does), and the puzzle it creates. By taking some courses in social networks, I tried to make sure to not forget about the smaller pieces of this bigger puzzle.

It only became obvious to me that I had picked the right major when I was on exchange – the past semester. All courses I have been taking there were somehow related to international politics and international affairs. I mainly noticed that I was so interested in this field when I started discussing the different topics of the courses with friends and fellow students. During these discussions I can tell that it is something I am really passionate about – and so can they.