SAMUDRAKI

  Samudraki's Saturdays Look out your window and you'll see small purple crocuses sprinkled all over the city. This only means one thing - that spring is just around the corner, if not already here! Thus, I'm listing out the ONLY 4 kinds essentials you will need to welcome the Dutch spring weather. 1. Clothing  Spring time means it's time to pack away those thick winter sweaters and bring out your pastel and floral tops, cardigans and skirts! Although the sunny days are a blessing, spring time is the worst time of the year for Dutchies due to several storms and heavy rain, so stay protected and keep an umbrella handy AT ALL TIMES! As far as clothing goes, just pack a hoodie in your bag anyways, or wear a puffy bomber jacket with a hood that will keep you warm and dry.  2. Food Get that spring feeling with flowery teas and fresh fruit. Not only is it super healthy and refreshing, but it's also super aesthetic if you're into that! Bust out that blender and invent ...

      Samudraki's Saturdays Financing student life in the Netherlands can be quite hard if you don't have support from your parents, and especially as an international student because things are 3x more expensive for you than for local Dutch students. Most students opt for a part-time student job alongside their study to earn some extra cash to pay bills or just to have a bit more luxury. Whatever your reason may be, finding a student job when you don't speak Dutch and in a student town can be quite difficult. Don't worry, in this blog I will highlight a few tips and tricks that helped get a student job without speaking a word of Dutch! Keep in mind, that you will be paid minimum wage which means you can earn between €400 - €2000 per month depending on the job and number of hours you put in.  1. Find jobs using the Facebook 'Jobs' tab Yes, Facebook may seem outdated now with all the new apps coming into market, however for job seekers this is a little secret tha...

    Samudraki's Saturdays In today's interview I spoke to a final year student who took up multiple degrees at once and is about to start their thesis and wrap up their bachelor's. Read below to find out more about balancing multiple studies and having an active social life.  Q. What do you study at university? A. I'm studying my bachelor's in Astronomy, Applied Physics and Mathematics. Yes, I am doing 3 separate degrees together!  Q. Oh wow! What made you decide to take up multiple degrees at once?  A. So I actually started with Astronomy in the first year, but I thought it was not very challenging. I decided to take up another degree that will complement my studies and give me more in-depth knowledge about the inner workings of the universe. So I took up Applied Physics & Mathematics in the second year. Also, the government subsides the degrees if you pass them all at once so it was definitely cheaper and more time-effective instead of paying alot of fees...

      Samudraki's Saturdays The Netherlands just witnessed a record breaking frost with sub-zero temperatures a few weeks ago. Alongside that, I just started my online university. Here's my experience on the first few weeks back to university life and starting masters in the winter!  Let me start this blog by saying that I never experienced online university when the whole world went into a lockdown, because by then I was done with all my exams and only had my thesis left to finish, which got switched into a theoretical research paper instead of a practical research paper. I was bummed because I got the topic of my dreams but I couldn't physically go to the lab and make a perfume, only in theory.   Expectations out of online university  So a month before starting university, I was frantically texting my old classmates and asking them about their experiences with online university and any tips to survive the first week. The main advice I received was to...

    Samudraki's Saturdays This is the first post of the 6-part interview series. I'll be interviewing 6 students about their university experiences as an international student in The Netherlands. I will share the stories anonymously to maintain the privacy of the students as well as not getting sued by their universities. In today's interview I am going to start with sharing my own story of taking a gap year after graduating from my bachelors degree program. Ruined plans thanks to a global pandemic and an unexpected enrolment into a masters degree program due to no jobs, this is quite the gap year story. Read to find out more! Q. What did you study at university? A. I just recently graduated in August 2020 with a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering. It was a 3-year degree program but I took an extra year due to back log and did my bachelor research project (Thesis) online thanks to Covid-19! I was really looking forward to working on experiments to make a perfume...

      Samudraki's Saturdays Happy New Year to all my happy readers! 2020 taught me alot of life lessons since Covid-19 kept me at home and gave me lots of time to introspect. Thus, this year I want to make the best of 2021. With the vaccine distribution starting soon, hope is just on the horizon and we'll all finally wake up from this nightmarish pandemic that caused global havoc.  This year I will be going back to university to pursue a master's degree at the University of Groningen in Chemical Engineering. Truth be told, this was never my life plan because I wanted to start working right after my bachelor's but companies became very selective and set new entry-level requirements such as having a masters degree. It took me a while to swallow that information, but I am definitely looking forward to expanding my knowledge in the field, making new friends and achieving personal growth. Besides, the pay hike between a bachelor's entry level job versus master's entr...

  Samudraki's Saturdays Dutch university life revolves alot around student associations, and that does not equals partying the whole week and drinking lots of beer. You'll be surprised to know that alot of the student associations are actually made around your own study programme and plenty around sporting activities. If you have been to the open day events at the university, chances are you would have been shoved with flyers in your face and students at various stalls promoting their association either with freebies or yummy treats to get you to sign up. So now that you have 50 flyers, how do you choose which one to go to? Well, guess what you can sign up for as many as YOU like! There's no restrictions and majority of these associations ask for a small monthly or yearly fee as a way to keep you committed ;) In my first year I was part of 4 associations at the same time! It was hectic, but alot of fun and I made my closest friends there. So in this blog, I am going to bust...

      Samudraki's Saturdays University life is going digital thanks to Covid-19, which means learning online is something new to us students as well as the professors. In today's blog I share with you my favourite apps that I used all throughout university to help me manage my social life, studies and lifestyle. This is not a sponsored blog , just the apps that I personally used and found helpful at different stages of my university life. There are plenty of apps, so I will try to make this list more organised by grouping them into 5 categories . 1. University and Lectures Each university has their own app on which you can access your schedule and check notifications from your professors. I find this more organised (and less spam-y) than the email notification from the study portal.  Almost all Dutch universities use Black Board for their lectures. So if you don't want to bring your laptop to class you can access all the files from your phone using the app.  La...

    Samudraki's Saturdays University life can be expensive but it doesn't have to be! Most students spend their money on food and rent which is something that cannot be changed much. However there are other expenses which can be easily managed if you keep an eye out for discounts and smart choices while spending. Take it from someone who used to spend waaaaay to much money in the first year of university, to now being able to budget my money such that I have enough for my monthly expenses as well as saving some at the end of the month! Want to know how I did that? Keep reading! Warning, this is going to be a rather long blog because I have so many tips and tricks to saving money as a student. 1. Make A Budget Per Month Set a limit to how much you will you spend on food and rent and then estimate how much more you need per month for other expenses. These expenses include going out with friends, ordering takeout, partying, traveling and text books.  2. University Books Don'...

  Samudraki's Saturdays You've made your decision to come to The Netherlands to pursue higher education. Now that the applications are done, you've got to find a place to stay, and FAST! Don't wait till you get here to start your search. It's likely that you are looking for a new house whist temporarily staying at a hostel, or your current accommodation is too expensive, or you're still stuck in your home country due to Covid-19 and are looking a place to stay. Well, this blog is for all of you! Housing in The Netherlands is TOUGH  and for students it's even harder with numerous requirements from landlords and expensive housing agencies. So what can you do to find cheap(er) housing with your student financial status? Read more to find out. 1. Apply To Websites In Advance Alot of student housing have listings online or via agencies. As a student, free posts via Facebook or Websites are more common than going through a paid housing agency service. Using these ...

Samudraki's Saturdays As a student in the Netherlands, you're most likely going to be on your bike ALOT! It's very rare to see students use public transport to commute in and around the city. However, as international students you are new to the city or country and biking here for the first time can be a bit overwhelming with all the biking rules. Don't fret, because this is your guide to the Dutch biking rules. They're actually very simple and easy to follow once you get the hang of it. Trust me, I managed to have 3 accidents in the first week because I was unaware of the rules and was on the wrong side of the road!  1. Bike on the red biking paths   Next to all streets are red strips painted on the road which are the biking paths which are marked with a painted bicycle. Google maps cannot differentiate what is the biking road from the main road, so don't make the mistake of biking directly on the street. The city center has alot of pedestrian zones, so don...

Samudraki's Saturdays Moving out of your home, city or even country for the first time can be daunting, yet exciting! University is all about discovering yourself and learning to be independent . If you're moving to university for the first time, and especially during 2020, a few things have changed from the regular university experience. Due to online classes, students are now home-bound for many hours than expected. This means that you actually do not need that "extra" luggage option when booking flights. So here I present to you, the ULTIMATE packing list to university in 2020! What you SHOULD bring to college:  Important Documents: Without these you can't register yourself at the city hall, hospital and university Passport ID card Student Visa Flight Information Admission Letter Medical Records & Prescriptions Insurance Bank Statements Travel Adapter: Without this your devices won't work, unless you buy new tech here Contact List: Make a list of all th...

Samudraki's Saturdays Covid-19 (Corona Virus), started in Wuhan, China and spreading globally now to over 110 countries is definitely one of the fastest spreading epidemic. Recently alot of countries have adopted a "lockdown" after seeing the tragic effects this deadly virus had on Italy. One of my favorite countries and who blessed this world with pizza and pasta. Why the lockdown you ask? The main reason is to contain the virus as much as possible to prevent further spreading. 17 years ago when SARS happened it didn't spread so fast and have such a deadly effect because of one major reason - travel. This time around with traveling becoming such an easy and fast process the virus managed to reach so far and so fast.  Lack of knowledge about the virus and it's capabilities and not enough medical support means you might find yourself suddenly stuck at home with plenty of free time. Here's a few things you can do to spend that free time and not...