Grading the Students: Intelligence and the Cult of Personality (Part 2 in a 5 part series)

All students in my program are Dutch, except for two German students. As a result, I am able to make friends that know the ins and outs of the Netherlands. My classmates and I cook together, hang out, take the train to various parts of Holland and drive to nearby countries like Germany.

My classmates are smart. The equivalent of American standardized testing happens early in high school in the Netherlands. The best and brightest go on to the top university of their choice. (If you do well in high school you can practically have your pick of university, unlike in the States, where getting into a great university is never assured, even with good grades.) In America, diversity of ability exists, even within the greatest universities. Here, no student shines above the other; there is surprising evenness of ability in the classroom. Everyone is equally intelligent in my class. In the Netherlands, they except students only on academic merit, no athletic scholarships (I can see why, everyone is insanely talented athletically…haha) and no legacy considerations.

Dutch students are much like American students, except I think they are more mature than American ones. For one, they are in university longer, but here, university life is not tantamount to the partying life. Despite the fact that this is Holland—insert whatever stereotypes you have for the country here____--most students do not stay out late. They have their own apartment, a girlfriend or boyfriend, a cat or a dog. They have a job. They do not go to many bars and go to sleep early, while their American counterparts (to generalize) are still hitting the bars at dizzying speeds.

Having attended many schools, I am highly attuned to the personalities of students, the gossip and cliques. There's not a lot of that here--the country is too small to have cliques I'm convinced. Perhaps graduate school is far different than undergraduate life. The students here are genuinely kind and surprisingly outgoing (which overturns stereotypes of the Dutch being cold toward strangers.) Before coming here I read a book that said the Dutch have deep bonds with friends extending back to elementary school and seldom open up to newcomers. So wrong. The acquaintances I make here will be ones I will keep for the rest of my life. Hurrah for new friendships.