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Hi,

Some of you might know me as that guy that always heats up his home prepped meals in the microwave at Lugus. Or as that guy with the curly hair with the white lock that laughs way too hard at his own jokes. Either way I am known as Dinand Mulder, a second year student of the Bachelor Industrial Engineering and Management.

The reason I am writing this article is because I was asked to do so by my former mentor and good friend Maarten van der Vinne, who is also a member of the Lugograaf committee. He asked me to write an article about my experiences with Honours College, what it entails and what my opinion of Honours College is so far. Since Maarten is a good friend of mine and because it seemed like a fun thing to do, I of course agreed to write this article.   

Before I start and explain what Honours College is and what my experiences are, I should first mention that I would have never thought that I would end up following the Bachelor’s Honours Programme. As a high school student I was not the type of student that would only study, and I certainly did not pass my high school exams with just 8’s or higher. I would usually do the minimum amount of work required to pass my courses, except for the courses that I genuinely liked. However, when I finished my high school, I did have a broad area of interests and if I was really interested in something then I would do my best to find out as much as I could about the thing that I was interested in.

After high school and during my gap year I found it really difficult to make a decision on what bachelor’s programme I should follow, but I ended up doing IEM at the RUG and after 2 months (and the introduction camp surely helped to convince me as well) I knew for sure that I had chosen the right study. This was also reflected by my course grades on Progress as I had scored good grades during my first term. It was also at this time that I had first heard about Honours College.

In the Bachelor’s Honours Programme you do not only study your own subject in greater depth but you also learn to apply your knowledge to interdisciplinary issues and problems. It is an extra programme of 45 ECTS, alongside your regular Bachelor's degree programme. The programme begins in the second semester of year 1 of your Bachelor’s programme and continues until the end of the second semester of year 3 of your Bachelor’s programme. Essentially, the Bachelor’s Honours Programme consists of a faculty component (deepening part, 25 ECTS) and the Petrus Camper Track (broadening part, 20 ECTS). Apart from the Bachelor’s Honours Programme, an Honours programme in Philosophy is also an option. However, I did not choose this option. Not everyone is allowed to participate, last year only 7 first year students of IEM were allowed based on their CV, motivational letter and a job interview. I chose to participate in the programme because I wanted an extra challenge and because I expected that I could learn even more about my field of study and maybe even learn something about my broad area of interests.

So far Honours College has done everything for me that I expected and even more. For instance, one of the things that I am interested in, but that is not treated in IEM is meditation and the way in which it can improve a person’s thinking. By following the tutorial “The Portable Laboratory” I learned more about this subject by reading papers that were not only philosophical, but also integrated neuroscience (another subject I find interesting) to back up certain hypotheses. Furthermore, I did not only increase my knowledge through Honours College, I also developed and improved certain skills. One of the skills I improved is my debating, through one of the skills modules that the Honours programme offers.

So if you feel like you need an extra challenge and if you would like to improve certain skills and get to know more about subject that are not covered in the IEM program, or even if you would like to deepen your knowledge of subjects within the FWN faculty, then I would definitely recommend the Bachelor’s Honours Programme. If you would like to know more you can always go to the Honours’ website: http://www.rug.nl/education/honours-college/ or go ahead and ask me some questions when I am putting one of my Tupperware boxes in the microwave at Lugus.

With kind regards,

Dinand Mulder