By Lisanne Cheizoo
Business Manager
To most of us, this calendar year means a year full of special activities and festivities, which also bring back memories for the entire UCR community. But what about the bigger community in which we belong? What about the local people of Middelburg? Are they aware that UCR has been around for ten years already, or does it feel a lot longer than that?
As it turns out, it is not that easy to spot someone who was born and raised in Middelburg. After accidentally asking a few German tourists (they do look like an average Dutch person sometimes), we finally located someone from Middelburg who was willing to answer a few questions:
“Did you know that it is UCR’s tenth anniversary this year?”
“Nope, I had not heard anything about it.”
“Nothing at all? Not via the news or anything?”
“No, not at all.”
“Does the tenth anniversary come as a surprise to you? Or does it feel like we have been around longer?
“No, ten years seems about right.”
“Do you think it is a good thing that Middelburg has become a student city?”
“Yes, I do! The city is livelier – the bars and pubs are more crowded and there are more young people around…”
Out of the people who were walking around the market square that day, the following sentiments seemed to be the most common ones: no one knew it was Roosevelt’s tenth anniversary this year, save for one elderly lady who had heard it on the local news. All of the people asked agreed that Roosevelt has been an improvement for Middelburg by lowering the average age of the population, by bringing festivities and liveliness to the city and by adding diversity to the people gracing its streets. “It is great. I love it, seriously. The shops are busier, and there is a general buzz in town with the students around”, said Clary (68) “…Although the only downside to it is the lines at Albert Heijn around 18:15. Do your classes end around six or something?”
Another woman added that she liked the way Middelburg holds itself as a student city: “It’s nice to see events popping up every now and then but the good thing about Roosevelt is that it is not overly present, like HZ in Vlissingen. They are too loud sometimes, whereas the presence of Roosevelt in Middelburg is certainly there but in a more subtle and sophisticated way. I prefer that to Vlissingen.”
Overall, the general feeling of the locals towards UCR seemed to be positive: the liveliness we bring to Middelburg is much appreciated. As long as we continue to organize great events, such as StuKaFest and Culture Week, the contact between the locals and the students will improve – although we might want to avoid doing our groceries at Albert Heijn after our six o’clock classes.
Lisanne Cheizoo, class of 2015, is a Literature and Theatre & Media Studies major from Uden, the Netherlands.
