The guaranteed overseas exchange opportunity with Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands was what attracted third-year student Arthur Mun to NTU’s maritime studies programme. Last semester, in the midst of a pandemic, he became one of the first students to take part in a remote exchange instead. 

“We were supposed to spend at least a semester there in our third year, something students from other universities have to fight for. Unfortunately, we cannot be in the Netherlands now due to COVID-19, but I’m very thankful that we can still take the modules,” he says. 

The suspension of overseas exchange may have put a damper on going overseas as part of the NTU experience, but students who want to do courses not offered at NTU can still take virtual classes at about 24 partner universities worldwide.

“The Dutch professors teach quite differently from what we are used to here in Singapore. We also heard from veteran industry professionals, who spoke to us in small breakout rooms of six or less on Zoom. I don’t think my seniors got to engage these seasoned experts in pre-pandemic Netherlands,” adds Arthur. 

Credit: Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands 

Apart from virtual classes held entirely on Zoom, Arthur and his classmates participated in a shipping simulation as part of the curriculum. The students played shipping moguls who had to decide what fleets to purchase or sell, how to expand their shipping routes and what financial steps to take to stay afloat. 

“The simulation was a small way in which the virtual experience was made even more special for us. Not only did we have to work around actual market prices, we had to make the call before prices changed, just as in the real world,” he says.

This story was published in the Jan-Mar 2021 issue of HEY!.

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