Femke van den Dries and Lieke Muijsert
Cupid is a regular visitor to the Wageningen campus, and there are lots of couples who met as students. Some of their children choose to go to Wageningen University too. ‘A friend of mine lives in the same student house where my father lived. There is still a photo of him on the wall.’
The Stobbelaar family
Ariëtte and Derk Stobbelaar met in 1989 in Droevendaal. Ariëtte, who was a Biology student, moved into the flat where Derk was living. They hadn’t known each other long when he left for Zambia to do an internship that was part of his degree in Environmental Health. They were not a couple at that point. ‘He did write regularly and then everyone in the house sat around the table trying to decipher his handwriting,’ says Ariëtte. When Derk got back, there was a spark: ‘It was winter and we set off in an old Citroen 2CV without heating to go on long skating tours. Distances of 30, 60 or even more kilometres. Somewhere along the way we fell in love.’ They stayed on in Wageningen after graduating. ‘Wageningen is a wonderful place to live, but there weren’t many jobs in those days, so you went to live wherever you found a job.’ For both of them, that was at the university.
We went on long skating tours. Somewhere along the way we fell in love
They had four children. The eldest, Eltjo (26) is currently finishing off his Wageningen Master’s in International Land and Water Management. He didn’t choose Wageningen when he first left school. ‘I moved to Groningen to do International Relations, but it wasn’t me, and nor was the atmosphere there.’ So he came back to Wageningen and started the Bachelor’s in Forest and Nature Management: ‘I think I get my love of nature from my parents.’ After living with his parents for a short while, he moved into a student house a five-minute bike ride away. ‘But in a month’s time I’m moving to Utrecht. I fancy getting to know another city. But I’m really looking for a second Wageningen. The surroundings and the atmosphere here are perfect.’
The Visscher family
Annemiek and Niclas Visscher met in 1992 through their student society K.S.V. Franciscus: they were both on committees that did most of their work in the summer. ‘That meant we did a lot together. We fell in love on a weekend boat trip.’ Niclas was a first-year student of Facility Management at the Diedenoort University of Applied Sciences, and Annemiek was a third-year student of Nutrition and Health. After graduating, they moved to Utrecht. ‘Even back then, that was a popular move after Wageningen.’ But their links with their university town are still strong. ‘A lot of friends from those days still live here, and their children are roughly the same age as ours. We often used to play a children’s version of student games with the kids: beer-drinking contests became ranja [an orange squash brand, ed.] contests, and we held a ranja sing-along.’ How they met was not exceptional. ‘There are several couples who met at Wageningen in our village, Bilthoven. It’s always a nice background to have in common.’
There are still photos of my dad as a student on the wall
Their two children, Ties (20) and Neeltje (18) were brought up on stories of Wageningen, and both are studying there now. Ties is doing Molecular Life Sciences and Neeltje Biology. They both belong to the same student society as their parents did. Neeltje: ‘I wasn’t selected in the lottery for a degree course in Utrecht and I had to choose between Wageningen and Leiden. Once I had visited my brother and sampled the atmosphere at Wageningen, I was sold.’ Being a student made her see her parents in a new way. ‘I realize now that a lot of their friends – people we grew up knowing too – are from their university days. And that certain features of our childhood, like the ranja sing-along, came from here.’ Neeltje occasionally comes across traces of her parents in Wageningen. ‘A friend of mine lives in the student house where my dad lived. There are still photos of him on the wall.’ For Neeltje, all that adds to the fun of starting out on student life. ‘You do realize that the friendships you form here can last your whole life.’
The Van Can family
‘Wow, what a nice guy,’ thought Margot when she saw Erik in the square outside Hoevestein in the spring of 1988. Margot was there for the freshers weekend for her degree in Food Technology, and Eric was helping organize it as a member of the activities committee of the Nicolas Appert study association. They met again later at a party thrown by the association.
Eric and Margot had their first date in November 1989, in the week that the Berlin Wall fell. They went to see a film in the Heerenstraat Theater (then the Molenstraat Theater) and went on to have a drink in De Vlaamsche Reus café, which was then located opposite the cinema. Margot: ‘If you sat in the window there you could see exactly who was going to the cinema with who, and you could spot new couples. And now we were among them.’ Margot and Eric were fond of the Arboretum: ‘We had many a romantic evening there.’ When one of them went abroad for six months for an internship, they saw it as the ultimate test of the relationship. ‘If it was still on after that, it would be serious.’ And it was.
If it was still on after the internship abroad, it would be serious
Eric and Margot left Wageningen and had a son and two daughters. When their daughter Marleen went to Wageningen University, they were enthusiastic. ‘We hadn’t been back to Wageningen for a long time and it felt like a homecoming when we walked around the town after dropping Marleen off for her introduction week,’ says Margot.
Marleen’s boyfriend is at Wageningen too, and both his parents went there as well. It turned out they are even in the same Nicolas Appert yearbook as Marleen’s parents. Margot: ‘We’ve passed it on.’ Who knows, maybe there will be a sequel to this story in 20 years’ time…
