This is Silke Kemp, starting her second year of Urban Studies in September. What has she been up to during the Corona lock down, and what are her plans? Find out here:

What is your name and where are you now?

Hi I am Silke, I am now back in my hometown in the Netherlands. When covid-19 dies down a bit I will move to San Francisco for as long as classes are online, where my partner is currently living.

How did you experience the Corona lock down?

The beginning was okay. I was only focused on university and I liked how the lock down made me look at things from a different perspective. For example, I have been spending more time on my hobbies, such as art. But now that it has been some months it can get pretty boring and I miss my university friends.

What did you see changing in your city, from an Urban Studies perspective?

For the fact that my hometown is relatively small, it had quite a few activities, we have a harbour, a small amusement park, beautiful places to swim. So it is a very family oriented place. Normally when you go for walks in my area, there is always people doing leisure activities. That died down, making the place feel like a ghosttown.  Now that everything is opening up again, you can see the relief on peoples’ faces. And  I’d say places are more crowded than normal probably because not as many people go on holidays.

What was online studying like for you?

It differed per class, Imagining the city translated really well to online and I like the way it was formatted. Other classes were pretty hard to follow, because you don’t have the same level of engagement.

What are your suggestions/tips for the next semester, in terms of online studying? 

For my fellow students: make a schedule for the day and try to do as much first thing in the morning, so you won’t dread your work as much.

For lecturers, experiment with new mediums. I personally like the edx-style in which the lecturers are a bit shorter, but will end with a quiz.

What about the coming semester are you most looking forward to?

Honesty, the moment everyone can come back and I can go out for bubble tea with my friends. I miss hanging out with them, but most are now back in their home country. Other than that I am a bit of a nerd and I really love this programme, so I look forward to next years’ courses.