USC column January

The other day, for instance, I and another USR member were trudging across campus with a second-hand bookcase we bought together, which we went to pick from thrift shop Marcel. We did this after the thrift shop's transporters had driven the van across the walkways almost to the entrance of the Maria Montessori building. This bookcase is for the 'Wandering Books' project, a project in which we will realise a wandering bookcase in the UB. Soon, we will paint and decorate this bookcase, so as a USR member, one should also pay close attention in crafts class. The books that will be in this case have been donated by local booksellers. So we went to bookstore and antiquarian bookshop Van Hoorn, where the very nice gentleman who works there took a cardboard box and haphazardly filled it with all kinds of books on the shelves. Afterwards, this box was so heavy that we both grabbed one side of the box and walked through the city centre lugging the same box together, laughing.

Another event that made a big impression was the memorial service at the Student Chaplaincy for deceased Radboud staff and students. To be present here as student representatives and to sit here among the loved ones of the deceased and listen to beautiful, meaningful music and poetry was a very special experience. To experience this with several people from the USC also makes us closer together as USC members.

So much has happened that it is impossible to list it all in this column. However, I do not want to leave you without one last example. Namely, I also stood on campus counting mosses with a representative of the Dutch Mushroom Association. An experience that seemed almost surreal, but made for a comical story in retrospect.

Thus, besides a time when I can find satisfaction in trying to get things done that I consider important for the students, this year also offers experiences that are not formally recorded. Nevertheless, it is these experiences that form the gravy poured over this year as a USC member. The formal procedures, so to speak, are the cake I find myself in, while the fun, funny and beautiful moments with fellow USR members are the cherry on top of the co-determination. I hope the next six months will offer more of these experiences and that these experiences will become the memories that will stick.'

- Derk Wijkamp, philosophy student and member of the University Student Council 2022-2023 

Every month, a member of the University Student Council (USC) writes a column to inform students about current developments around student participation within Radboud University. Do you have questions or input? Contact the USR at usr [at] ru.nl or @radboud_usc on Instagram.