Testimonial Maria Passali

What is your current profession?

"I work at K&M Agriculture. My main task, as an assistant, is to give plant production advice to farmers, mainly for fruit trees."

What was your motivation to pursue an Online Master's in plant breeding?

“The university is very well-known. And I also like the Online Master’s programme itself. Especially the internship. I’m planning to do my internship outside my country and explore job options outside Greece. In Greece, we don’t have many research companies, so it’s interesting for me to explore options abroad. Perhaps Holland is an option?"

"The online part is attractive as well. It enables me to keep working, since I don’t have to drop out of the workforce and keep building my career. Gaining and building up work-experience is very important to me, and I think for (future) employers also. I really want to have hands-on experience, even though my current job is not on plant breeding, I’m learning every day.”

What made you choose Wageningen University & Research?

“I love the courses that this Online Master’s offers. I didn’t find these specific courses elsewhere. Of course, there are similar Master's elsewhere, but the whole structure and content of the online Master’s at Wageningen really attracted me.”

Would you recommend the Online Master’s?

''To be honest, if I would have had the opportunity, I would have followed the on-campus programme. But because I work as well, studying online enables me to pursue my degree after all.

Also, I’m used to online studying, mainly because of Covid. Studying online is hard, though. It’s difficult to find your motivation sometimes, but your fellow students motivate you. It kind of helps that they struggle a bit as well. We find motivation together. We are in the same boat.

What’s convenient is that you can watch the recordings of the online lectures in your own time. At the same time, we have weekly assignments/projects with deadlines that stimulate you to get behind your computer and keep up. The deadlines actually help to not fall behind.''

What’s the best thing about the programme?

“The Wageningen Weeks really stand out. We meet each other and do practicals. I really like it. I’m staying at a hotel for 2 weeks, which is a bit expensive. I also had to pay for the plane tickets. It’s important that you have a financial plan before you start. I saved money for this trip.”

What’s the hardest thing about this Online Master’s?

"The hardest thing is to combine work and studying. You have to deliver at work, and put in the effort in your studies as well. I work 5 days per week, 6 hours per day. And I put in around 20 hours to study. Sometimes it’s more, sometime its less, depending on the subject of the course. That means I also study in the weekends. Something has got to give, and that’s often my social life. On the other hand, besides work and a boyfriend, I don’t have obligations like kids, and that makes this the best time for me to study."

What is your advice for prospective Online Master's students?

"My advice would be: be ready! Prepare yourself. Have a high motivation. And, enjoy it! It is a really nice master’s programme and you will gain a lot from it."