When I was a kid, I had a rabbit called Rabatzi. Sometimes I let Rabtzi out of her cage in the backyard. I thought I was doing her a favor by granting her some freedom. To my surprise, Rabatzi did not hobble away into the nearby wheat field, but quietly sat on the outside of the cage’s fence, as if she were desperate to get back in. I did not get it. Why would Rabatzi stay put beside the cage she spent her entire life in, when she had the opportunity to venture out and explore. Luckily, my dad provided me with an explanation. He told me that there were lots of dangers outside of the cage for Rabatzi, for example hawks circling in the sky, ready to dive for little rabbits in the grass, or foxes awaiting to wish bunnies a good night. What’s more, is that Rabatzi would have to provide for her own food in the wild. In short, her freedom came at a cost. But what if it were possible to have the freedom to explore without having to worry about all the other stuff? Is that even possible?

Having graduated from the University College Groningen this summer, I would say in an anthropogenic dimension yes, it is.  At the University College I had the opportunity to explore a multitude of subjects during my Bachelor’s program, after which I eventually opted for sticking with the life sciences. Besides my life science track, I took courses in development economics, political philosophy, environmental sciences and physics. When I met people and explained my program to them, they often gave me a puzzled look and asked me what the future holds with such a degree. In my case, I ended up in a lateral entry track for medicine at the University of Groningen.

Being at a new faculty now with lots and lots of students in my track is quite a change when coming from the University College. There is no top notch administration that holds a protective wing over my academic beings and doings anymore. I have to handle things myself now, organize and schedule things, which of course is also an essential part of growing up. Nonetheless, I now all the more appreciate that during my time at UCG I could keep my mind relatively free from administrative concerns and was able to focus on what mattered most: my studies. That was all thanks to a seamlessly functioning tutor-student relationship and a very caring secretariat.

Academically I feel well equipped for my future studies. I managed to cover the fundamentals of life sciences during my time at the University College and my ‘excursions’ into other topics always helped me to add context to my core subjects. The close-teacher student relationships at the College helped me to find better ways of approaching academic tasks such as writing papers and how to find reliable sources for answering my questions.

To wrap it up, I have no regrets for having embarked on a Liberal Arts and Sciences education. The institutional and especially the familiar setting is unique in that it allows for following one’s academic interests and desires without being path dependent on a single subject. In rabbit terms, studying at UCG is like being outside of the cage in the midst of a carrot field, devoid of any predators. I have no doubt, Rabatzi would have seized such an opportunity! Will you?

Greetings,

Jonathan Steinhorst