Vrijheid & blijheid

“Freedom & happiness” 

Doesn’t this diptych make you happy? It certainly has this effect on me! These two paintings symbolize the feeling of joy and freedom during my student days in Amsterdam. At the beginning of this period, I felt a lot of homesickness and didn’t enjoy myself in the big city at all. However, I managed to find my place and ultimately had the most amazing time ever. I made lifelong friends at Project VoorUit and during my studies at the VU and later at the Uva. The total freedom to do whatever you want; just being able to decide for yourself what time to eat every night, I loved it! 

My student days consisted of different parts, different squares, because I was not idle. I had to attend lectures (occasionally), worked at Project Vooruit in a community center, and occasionally worked behind the bar at Gasthuys (a brown café in Amsterdam). Each individual part had its charm, and they existed well alongside each other. Although they sometimes blurred into one another – I think of the hangovers in the lecture halls or the nights out after a meeting with my VoorUit brothers. Amazing time – nothing but freedom and happiness!