Kathianna Oppenhuizen – UWC Maastricht

“We are still moulding this college and I am more than grateful to be a part of it”

This year was a wonderful year during which I learned a lot at UWC Maastricht. Even though I stayed in my own country, the world came with all its diversity to me. I share my room for instance, with roommates from Turkey, Latvia and Indonesia. Together, we have the most varying conversations about all aspects of our lives, cultures and countries. Every time I realize that what is considered normal and common in our culture may not be so in another culture. A great example of this is Sinterklaas, which we celebrated together. It was exciting to share this part of our culture with my fellow co- years. Being in the Netherlands while surrounded by people from all over the world has given me a lot of different opportunities to learn from others and their backgrounds and cultures and to also to share mine. I have begun to look upon the Netherlands and other countries through a different perspective. Different events in the news such as the uprising in Libya and Egypt have come closer to me as I have suddenly know people to relate this news to.

Helping to create this new college was sometimes hard but together we have achieved so much. We have created different CAS programmes and other activities. I help with a girls scout group in a district of the Maastricht neighbourhood. This is really exciting because I do activities with the little girls and help out as a translator between the Dutch staff and the other help-staff from our college.

We are still moulding this UWC college and I am more than grateful to be a part of it.

Dank u wel. Thank you.