Being a Student at University
About Nadja Reutter
If you need to find Nadja Reutter you should be looking In Madrid. With friends in cafes. She will be dressed nicely and it will surprise you that she is half Russian and half German. You might find her in the university IE.
How would you say social life is like for university students now in the pandemic?
Social life in Spain has not changed too drastically (from the beginning to the present) but throughout the pandemic, it was extremely difficult to find a safe way to interact with other university students. Because we were all suddenly on Zoom, people kept more to themselves and were even shy to speak in class. Secondly, due to safety measures like keeping distance, even if students attended university, you could not socialize in the same way we did before COVID. Nowadays, however, students are socializing even more than they were when they were freshmen. People will usually meet their friends on a daily basis and go out for dinner/drinks/club almost every weekend with the exception of exam periods.
Why did you choose this path of study?
I chose this path of study for the simple reason that there was so much variety within this bachelor. Not having been set to follow one certain career path, this bachelor granted me the opportunity to develop my creative side whilst also learning about how companies operate. I had always been passionate about entrepreneurship, design thinking, and consumer behaviors, thus, this bachelor was an obvious choice. In regards to the university itself, I felt that it was a good fit for me because: it was based in Europe (so it wasn’t far away from home), the campus is based in Madrid (a capital and metropolitan city), they speak a different language (I am passionate about learning languages and wanted to challenge myself to study somewhere where I didn’t speak the language).
Did you start university before COVID? What are the differences now versus before
I started university 6 months before the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning I only had the true university experience in my first semester which also ended slightly earlier due to the virus. Since then, university has either been online or we have had something called “liquid learning” meaning we can connect to our lectures through zoom or attend them in person depending on your covid situation. The main difference in how university is now(day-to-day) since COVID is that faculty are limited to teaching only theoretical materials and students have less opportunities to: conduct research, host group meetings in person, visit their families as often, or even just go out to dinners or parties with as many people or the same places. It has been a shame because I know many university students have felt that they missed out on the university experience we were told about when we graduated, but luckily some universities are making efforts to have all students back to learn on campus.
“I had always been passionate about entrepreneurship, design thinking, and consumer behaviors; thus, this bachelor was an obvious choice.”
-Nadja Reutter
Do you find it difficult to be a student in this situation? Explain
It has been difficult to be a student when COVID was at its peak because it felt as though we were teaching ourselves and struggled to understand assignments or how to complete exams virtually, but it didn’t take long for this to become the new “normal”. Having been back to university this academic year, I no longer find myself in these difficult situations.
How did you picture university when you were younger? Explain
When I was younger, I had pictured university to be a place only meant for your studies with no room for other activities. I had envisioned it to be such a difficult time of your life where you are away from your family and only spending your time studying. I used to dread the idea of having to go away for university because I felt that it was like moving to a new school, starting all over again, and only getting to study one thing that you then needed to follow as a career choice.
What are you studying?
As of three years now, I am studying at IE University in Spain, completing their Bachelor’s program called: “Communications and Digital Media”. This four-year course covers business-related topics such as digital marketing, advertising, public affairs, media, and entertainment industries, and corporate communication, however, they also offer more creativity-oriented courses such as graphic design, photography, and film production.
