The internship Tom followed during his Journalism bachelor’s programme awoke his political science interests. “I followed an internship in the middle of nowhere in India where an NGO was building a sustainable electricity network. They rented out solar panels to local entrepreneurs who sold this electricity to charge lamps. In this way, citizens no longer had to use kerosene lamps.” Tom analysed if there were cultural differences between the NGO people and the local people and if this caused obstacles in the project’s process. “Eventually, this brought me a multi-faceted perspective on the concept of development. Even though there were 6 years in between my master’s and bachelor’s, this internship created the basis for my interest in political science.”
What eventually drew Tom to VU Amsterdam was the sustainable perspective of the political science master. “When I was little, I wanted to become a biologist. However, I never became a biologist because I had a havo-level education. I have a broad range of interests so that is why I went in a more social direction even though my courses in high school were more natural sciences aimed. By googling a bit about nature and sustainability within a social framework I ended up at Global Environmental Governance at VU. There, I first followed the political science premaster’s and afterwards the master's.”
Political Science
Even though Tom was initially afraid to get thrown into the deep, political science gave him the stability he was looking for. “I am 31, so it took a while before I ended up at university. Universities often claimed that you would just get a book and the rest you had to figure out yourself. I was afraid that I would get lost in organizing and carrying out everything by myself. However, political science offered enough guidance. All the expectations, materials, and preparations were clearly outlined in the study guides. This helped me discover my full potential.
Tom especially liked experiencing the positive and critical ethos within political science. “I am someone that likes to express his opinion. In the classes, I always asked critical questions and expressed my critical opinion. The professors responded positively to this. This was the first time in my life that my critical questions were appreciated. Before political science, this only got me in trouble: I got kicked out of class and as a journalist, people often did not appreciate critical questions. Now, I finally found a place in which I could use my way of thinking and this was even stimulated by the professors.”
