Photo Anne van der Heijden
When he came to Wageningen as a first-year, Laurens immediately joined the Christian student society Navigators Wageningen (NSW). ‘I wouldn’t call myself an active member,’ he says. But when he checks his diary, it turns out many an evening is filled with society events after all. ‘What I do alongside my studies varies each period, but at the moment I’ve got quite a few NSW activities. And sometimes I meet up with friends.’
Laurens spends most of his day on campus. ‘I came to Wageningen for the degree programme; I wasn’t thinking about the town. They have basically got good education here, haven’t they?’ Laurens is on schedule, which means he is in the final year of his Bachelor’s. He is considering doing his Master’s in Wageningen too. ‘I certainly wouldn’t mind staying on here. Perhaps because I come from Nijkerk, where there’s not much to do either.’ He adds: ‘I don’t find Wageningen town anything special but the surroundings are pretty cool. The woods, the fields, the heathland: they’re really nice for a bike ride or a walk.’
A bus I’m sitting in might be blown up
Laurens still has a lot of arrangements to make in the next while for his four-month internship in Palestine. ‘I have to put time and energy into that, which I don’t feel too keen on.’ It is also a challenge as he will be going alone. ‘I’ve never been abroad on my own for so long. I will see if I can find something with students or other people so that I don’t waste away on my own. Perhaps I’ll find an international church.’
Laurens isn’t worried by the fact that it’s an unsettled region. ‘Sure the risks are a bit bigger; a bus I’m sitting in might be blown up. But I don’t think that’s likely.’