After my high school, I decided to go to Nijmegen to study Medical Biology. I could have chosen Groningen, where most people from Leeuwarden do their university, but I decided to do mine in Nijmegen, partly because I vaguely knew the place and partly because Groningen didn’t attract me. In a way, the decision to move away from my high school relations had been a good one, because it obliges you to start a new social life and not to get stuck with old habits. Nijmegen is a city of about 120.000 people, with an old history dating back at least to the Romans and its atmosphere largely dependent on the many students that study at the University of Nijmegen and hang around after their study.

My first room was in a student’s flat, Vossenveld, about 30 minutes cycling from the centre and the university. The rooms were fine (3×4 meter) with shower (lots of students’ housing had common showers), and a shared kitchen and toilets, and were relatively cheap (240 guilders a month, I believe). There were 9 rooms per unit and, more importantly, a bar on the premises which I happened to frequent quite often. Because it was so far away from the centre, I only stayed there half a year, although it looks longer when I look back.

The second placed in Nijmegen was with two other biology students and I started with a small room (2×3 meter). Luckily the atmosphere was very good and we almost always cooked and ate our meals together. I later moved to a bigger room (4×4 meter) which was all I needed at that time. The place, located at the bottom of the Berg en Dalseweg next to the Mariakerk (church) was actually quite close to the place where I grew up and from my room I could see the hospital window where my mom gave birth to my sister. It was also a perfect place to start long walks from, as we were located close to the river where you could walk on the embankments, but also close to the woods. I was also close to the centre (5 minuted walking) which was good because I had a good social life and went out a lot. University was 10 minutes cycling away so that was also perfect.

My university life was as it should be, I guess. Lots of friend, lots of parties and I was always doing something. Study went fine as well, although I must admit it came second at that time. It did get more serious when I had to do long-term research projects (9 months), but I always found the time to have fun.