Karlijn on the University of California campus in Los Angeles (UCLA) – Own photo Since Bachelor’s student of Food Technology Karlijn van der Staaij (23) started at Wageningen University in 2018, she has had one goal: to go on an exchange to the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). She has now arrived at the university of her dreams, but not without fighting for it.
When Van der Staaij saw her cherished dream shattered, she decided not to take it lying down. Determined to get to America, she left no stone unturned in trying to get the university’s travel policy changed. A story about perseverance.
Allereerst, waFirst of all, why UCLA?
‘It’s a good, internationally oriented university with a lovely campus. When I was 19, my parents spent four months in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. I came to visit them and loved it. I knew then that I wanted to study here one day. Since my first year at university, I have been aiming for the highest grade average I could get, so that I would stand a chance of going on this exchange. I was more focused on being admitted to this exchange than on getting my Bachelor’s degree’.
You were accepted in 2020, but that didn’t happen because of Covid. How was that?
‘Everything went to plan until September 2020: I had applied to go on an exchange at the beginning of 2021 and was already emailing UCLA teachers to see which courses would suit me best. The application process for UCLA is doubly stressful because you have to be accepted twice: once for the university and once for the campus of your choice. I was accepted at the university, but in September all UC exchanges were suddenly cancelled due to Covid. I was devastated when I read that email. I had done my utmost for that exchange and now it would suddenly be cancelled? I could finish my bachelor without an exchange, but I wanted to go to UCLA so badly. So I decided to take an extra year over my Bachelor’s degree.’
That worked out well: you were admitted again and you got to go to your favourite campus.
‘I was so happy. I worked fulltime from September to mid-December, because studying in America is expensive.’
So you were getting ready to go. And then?
‘WUR sent out an email: “You are not allowed to go to orange countries” and America was orange. But America is big and it is quite safe at UCLA, so why shouldn’t I be allowed to go there? I talked to the Exchange Team about it. A friend of mine in Groningen told me that she was allowed to go to an orange country after signing a liability waiver, in which the student accepts the responsibility for travelling to an orange area.
I was devastated when I read that email
Girls in Utrecht who were also going to UCLA told me they could apply for an exception to be made. I sent all this information on to the Exchange Team, thinking that WUR could do the same. At the beginning of December – about a month before my exchange was due to start – I received an answer: the Executive Board did not want to waive its duty of care. Attending universities in orange areas was not allowed.’
You didn’t leave it at that.
‘No, I didn’t. I had read an article about an Amsterdam University student who had started a petition asking for students to be able to go on an exchange to orange regions. That had worked, so I approached him for advice. He had also approached the media and had hired a lawyer. I had one month.
I am grateful that WUR changed its policy
I looked for like-minded people through the Facebook group Wageningen Student Plaza and in no time at all, there was a WhatsApp group with 130 students in it. We asked the Student Council to write to the Executive Board on our behalf. I also wrote personal letters to the Executive Board and UNL, the association of Dutch universities (formerly VSNU, ed.). At the beginning of December, I put a petition online calling for students to be allowed to travel to places that are safer than the Netherlands. Within a few days, the petition had more than 1500 signatures. And we had a lawyer draft a letter. I don’t know what the decisive factor was, but it worked: the travel policy was changed on 17 December. I flew on 19 December. Just in time, because my classes started on 3 January.’
What is it like to be there now?
‘When I went through customs in America, I thought: I did it! Because of all the hassle with the travel policy, I had almost forgotten that I had worked hard for three years to get the grades to be able to come here. I am grateful that WUR changed its policy, not an easy decision. Now I am enjoying myself here. The campus is great. Classes are still online but from the end of January we will be taught face-to-face. I’m really looking forward to that.’
