My Days in Rotterdam
Without noticing, it has been nearly three months since I first came to Rotterdam, the Netherlands. I can still remember the first several days, confused, frustrated and starving, but now I am pretty proficient in coping with life and study here. Reflecting on this period of time, I am amazed by how much I have changed and how I can adapt to a totally foreign environment. However, of all my experiences and feelings as an exchange student here, the most predominant aspects which will influence my entire life are the different idea of schooling and the importance of self-study ability.
Compared with Chinese higher education, the purpose of university in the Netherlands is more about teaching students how to learn instead of the solid knowledge itself. The students here have less courses in general, but after-class projects and self-study hours are taken seriously. During the class, the teacher will not explain every knowledge point in detail and let students do repeated exercise; instead, the teacher’s role is more like a guide who provides directions and back-up supports. At first, I was not quite used to this way of teaching. I still remember the first class I attended was logistics, but after a two hour’s lecture, I thought the teacher taught nothing. For example, he would raise a new model of supply chain, and then asked us to work in group to talk about this mode due to our previous studies or internship experience. I was always expecting he would give the official working definition of this model and explain it based on a typical company example, but this never happened. What he did was to ask each group to present the outcomes of the discussion, give comments on that, and then ask us to read a certain chapter of the reference book after class. Later on, I started to understand this. According to traditional Chinese teaching methods, teachers are the authority to provide information and the gauge of measurement. It’s true that students can learn knowledge quicker and more straightforward in this way, but unavoidably, this can cast limitation on student’s mind. One day, when the student can no longer get fed by the teacher, he will be at lost because of the lack of trainings for the initiative and inspiration during his education.
From my home university’s teaching method to this new study environment, this contrast magnified some traits of me that I had barely realized before and facilitated my self-reflection. I never regard myself as an obedient student. I never afraid to raise questions in class or challenge opinions of my teachers. I think this partly come from my personality and my instinctive desire to seek the truth; thus, I can say that I am on the way of critical thinking. However, my disadvantages were also exposed in this new education system. When I was suddenly entitled to certain responsibility out of my comfort zone, I tended to be passive and negative because no one had ever told me how to do this or where to go. Things could start from very little like how to find valid foreign academic resources and how to do citation in a proper APA style. I talked about my puzzle with a local Dutch friend. She told me they had courses like google research, group project management and Microsoft Office proficiency in the first year to build up fundamental skills and abilities, and that was why they just knew how to do things even though teachers had mention little about it in class. That was when it occurred to me that I had already fallen behind with regard to self-learning skills to improve myself. I, as a student, must somehow be better than my teachers, otherwise the society in general can never develop. I should no longer go for what my teacher think is right but what is the fact; I should no longer meet the expectation for the exam but exceed the expectation for my own life and the development of the world. In this way, it is indispensable for me to gain the ability to learn by myself.
Fortunately, in an information era, this is much easier compared with it in the old time. With the help of my friends and my tutors, I have made huge progress in the past few months. Now, I can stay confident and calm in face of challenges in a totally new field. Gradually, I also realize that knowing how to learn by myself not only influence my academic study but also enhance my individuality because I am in a mentality to explore and make changes and I have faith that my efforts will pay off. I know that I still have a long way to go, but I believe I am on the right track. If you asked me how to apply that unfamiliar supply chain mode to a real company three months ago, I would probably say, “I don’t know”, but now I will confidently add something to it, “but I will find it out.”
