Ingrid-Ioana Murariu

My name is Ingrid-Ioana Murariu and I am a 23-year-old Romanian. After living in Bucharest, Romania for 16 years and 3 more in Stavanger, Norway, I decided that I wanted to live and study somewhere that would remind me of both. So, after visiting Rotterdam for a few days, I had no doubt that this city will be my next home. Once I finished my Bachelor studies in Psychology and International Law at Erasmus University College, not only was I not ready to leave this beautiful city, but I was certain that pursuing an LL.M. degree is the best next step towards my foreseen legal career.

Given that there are so many opportunities when it comes to an LL.M. programme, one may wonder why choose International and European Union Law. Well, as an international residing in a European Member State, I wanted to study both (actually, I did not know which one of the two to choose). So, when I saw that Erasmus University Rotterdam can give me both, I did not even look further. The way the courses were organized and the fact that you have two months delving into the realm of both International and European Union Law, to then decide which of the two shall be your specialization seemed like a perfect fit for me.

When classes first started, it was quite overwhelming due to the COVID-19 health crisis and the measures imposed that led to the entire programme to be followed online. Not being able to attend live lectures and meet your professors and classmates was challenging and frustrating. However, the professors have done their utmost best so that we get to work together, have class discussions and overall, not feel like we have lost something by not being able to attend in-person. Every class was something new and interesting and we had many opportunities to get to know our future professors and theses supervisors both during guest lectures and organized meeting sessions. Having graduated from the programme, I can confidently say that I have learned more than I would have ever expected to. From case-studies, assignments, mind-maps, moot-court simulations to presentations, exams, blogposts and theses, there is not one area or way of accumulating knowledge and skills that we have not explored during this programme. Nonetheless, commitment and ability to follow deadlines are crucial assets to succeed, which became obvious as soon as we started our first week.

Ultimately, I am grateful for this experience, our professors and my classmates for making this LL.M. programme as exciting and educative as it was. If one does not know which track (and corresponding branches) is the best fit for them, this programme is the perfect place to find that out. Furthermore, if there is one piece of advice that I could give it is: “Unity is strength!”. Finding my people in this programme and pushing, supporting and helping each other was the best decision I have made (and honestly, I could not have done it without them).