Making An Entrance

Fiddling with the collar of my shirt, I crossed the bridge to the entrance of Van Hall Larenstein for the first time. It was late April and I was visiting my potential new university. I was due to meet a professor and this made me very nervous. She would be very serious with an intense stare, I felt sure of that. Making a fool of myself in front of a professor was not beyond the realms of possibility. After introducing myself at Reception, I decided to make conversation. ‘Is that the top of the library?’ I asked as I looked behind the desk ‘it looks interesting’ ‘Oh yes! But you can’t see it properly from there, dear. Come around the desk and have a proper look’. The receptionist practically dragged me through the door introducing herself as Marja. She crawled on all fours on top of a desk, turning, she stared at me ‘Well don’t just stand there, come on’. Obligingly I clambered up beside her, from whence we continued our conversation. Suddenly I heard this booming laugh from behind. I looked over my shoulder and my heart sank when I realised the woman standing there was the professor I was waiting for. The first sight she had of me was my ample posterior. I descended from the table with burning cheeks and we shook hands, she introduced herself as Joyce. With her floppy pigtails, spotty red dress and warm smile, my stereotype took flight. Joyce generously spent a couple of hours with me explaining everything I could possibly have wanted to know about my chosen subject, and microbiology. That warm April afternoon I fell in love with everything, the Netherlands, Wageningen, VHL and Food Innovation and Management. A year on nothing has changed.