Living on a campus
Actually, for Lisa, the fire to explore the world was kindled early on, she explains enthusiastically. "The ball started rolling a bit when I lived in Canada for six months with my family. I also went to a high school there, which brought me into contact with education in another country at an early age. Once back in the Netherlands it kept itching, and when I finished high school I went to a scholarship that featured American and Canadian Universities."
It ended up being the prestigious Harvard University for Lisa, where she went on to earn a bachelor's degree in Political Science after an extensive application process. The perception that studying at this American university is incredibly expensive is not entirely accurate, according to Lisa. "The official tuition fee for Harvard is almost $80,000. But every undergraduate who needs it gets financial support from Harvard. It depends on your parents' income how much that is - I did pay some tuition, but much less than the full amount. Plus, all the undergraduates live on campus and you eat there too: that saves quite a bit!"
Work hard, play hard
In those four years, Lisa lived her American student life and made friends from all over the world. The four years in America flew by. Lisa: "I had a great time there, but it was also very hard work. You are busy with your studies from morning to night. But at the same time there are also parties and everyone is very active with hobbies and sports. A bit of work hard, play hard, so."
After completing her studies at Harvard, Lisa went looking for a Master. To the Netherlands? No. It was Paris. She now lives and studies there with great pleasure, she says. "Here I am studying a master's degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action, which ties in perfectly with my undergraduate studies. Because I'm doing a master's now, I have a little more time on my hands and actually that's kind of nice. Also, the mentality is a lot more relaxed: around here, people are sitting around at ten o'clock in the morning drinking coffee with each other. You don't see that very often in America. I like that."
All in all, then, Lisa is having a great time in Paris. She lives in a small studio, partially funded by the French government. "Actually, it's a kind of social rent. I get a scholarship which makes me eligible for this. So as a result, I don't pay too much for my small but nice little studio where I live now. I bike to the university in half an hour, which is fine by Parisian standards. Also, I live near many of my girlfriends, so that's also very nice."
Future plans
Lisa will be fine in Paris for a while yet. For the future, however, she does not yet know where she will end up. "Paris is super, but it's still a little too much city-city for me to really stay there forever. It's also not very green, especially compared to Amsterdam or Berlin. But I would love to stay here for a few more years. It really depends on where I find interesting work. After all this wandering back to the Netherlands? That's another option I'm open to, if just that fantastic job comes along there."