Defne Tekin, Grade 11
UWC Maastricht
As cliché as it might sound, the UWC Maastricht campus was my “home away from home” during my DP1 year. Surrounded by a moat and overlooking breathtakingly beautiful fields that continued until the border of Belgium, our campus was the place where I made most of my memories in UWC. It was here that I had eye-opening conversations, life-changing encounters, and got to know myself and challenge my values and identity like never before.
One particular place on campus that is special to me, not due to its intrinsic qualities but rather because of the fond memories I have made, there is the Mensa - our school cafeteria. For me, the Mensa wasn’t just a place where we had three meals a day; it was much more than that. I had many insightful conversations with friends and teachers alike in the Mensa: I met new people and got to know the ones that I already knew better.
Here, we had conversations on a wide range of topics. We talked about politics, power dynamics, discussed school-related matters and ethical issues; a discussion that I had with friends at the beginning of last year on abortion still fascinates me. We also talked about lightweight topics to pass the time, like the weather or what we had been up to that day.
As soon as I entered the easygoing environment of the Mensa, I would start socializing with friends until the little bell on the kitchen counter rang- signifying that the meal of the day was ready. We would then respond like trained puppies, hurrying to get in line and be fed.
The food served here was certainly far from perfect, but that didn’t seem to matter so much while we were enjoying ourselves. We were often quite loud: with the sound of everlasting laughter coming from one end of the Mensa and the sound of people playing the piano coming from the other end. It was as though the noise of the students eating was juxtaposed by how the Mensa looked: decorated in simple colours and fairly minimalistic- with the exception of flags from all around the world painted on the columns.
The Mensa acted as a common meeting place outside of meal hours, too; weekend check-ins and meetings would be held here. Student-Led Initiatives would also use this space to organize events like conferences, storytelling evenings, and so forth.
This simple cafeteria designed mainly to serve as space where we would eat our meals became so special for me, because of the people around and the time that I spent with them here.
One particular place on campus that is special to me, not due to its intrinsic qualities but rather because of the fond memories I have made, there is the Mensa - our school cafeteria. For me, the Mensa wasn’t just a place where we had three meals a day; it was much more than that. I had many insightful conversations with friends and teachers alike in the Mensa: I met new people and got to know the ones that I already knew better.
Here, we had conversations on a wide range of topics. We talked about politics, power dynamics, discussed school-related matters and ethical issues; a discussion that I had with friends at the beginning of last year on abortion still fascinates me. We also talked about lightweight topics to pass the time, like the weather or what we had been up to that day.
As soon as I entered the easygoing environment of the Mensa, I would start socializing with friends until the little bell on the kitchen counter rang- signifying that the meal of the day was ready. We would then respond like trained puppies, hurrying to get in line and be fed.
The food served here was certainly far from perfect, but that didn’t seem to matter so much while we were enjoying ourselves. We were often quite loud: with the sound of everlasting laughter coming from one end of the Mensa and the sound of people playing the piano coming from the other end. It was as though the noise of the students eating was juxtaposed by how the Mensa looked: decorated in simple colours and fairly minimalistic- with the exception of flags from all around the world painted on the columns.
The Mensa acted as a common meeting place outside of meal hours, too; weekend check-ins and meetings would be held here. Student-Led Initiatives would also use this space to organize events like conferences, storytelling evenings, and so forth.
This simple cafeteria designed mainly to serve as space where we would eat our meals became so special for me, because of the people around and the time that I spent with them here.
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