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‘Here you have so many opportunities to get to know new people,’ says second year student Charlotte Mehlhart. The close community on campus made her choose for ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ College Utrecht.

‘This place is so welcoming for a new student,’ she explains on a sunny Friday morning during her weekly work shift at the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ College reception. As the daily traffic still has to start – the reception not only receives visitors and handles incoming email and telephone calls, but works also as a distribution point for students’ postal orders – Charlotte can allow us a few minutes for a chat.

‘Students from different years share apartments, which is very helpful for a newcomer. It is nice to live together with your friends. I have friends also in ChoirCo, one of the many student committees on campus, and since shortly, I have taken up boxing lessons.’ Boxing on campus? ‘Oh yes, one of the students gives weekly boxing classes here.’

The reception is yet another way to meet people, and to learn to know College Hall from inside, as the reception desk is in the administrative building. ‘Most students hardly ever go further than the reception. College Hall, and what is going on there, remains largely unknown to them. As for myself, I find it interesting to get to know more about the College affairs.’

Being fully member of a place and getting to know your whereabouts throughout are not really a strange motivation for an Anthropology and Earth and Environment major.

Charlotte, do you see the link as well?

‘Yes of course I do. I grew up in Bonn, but I lived abroad with my family also a number of years, three years in Morocco for example for my mom’s job. She is involved in sustainability and economic affairs, and I think that has had a huge influence on me as well. After school, I decided not to start studying right away, but I took a gap year instead. During that year I worked in a project for environmental education in Bavaria, which was very interesting. I like to learn about different things, and more than just academically.’

Speaking of which, are you contented with your study choice?

‘It was not only the community that brought me to ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ College Utrecht, of course. The programme was the decisive factor. I thought I could find here what interests me most, and that was exactly correct. The combination of Anthropology with Earth and Environment enlarges the scope of my understanding of problems in today’s world, and the tracks are mutually beneficial. In Anthropology, for example, it is crucial to perceive peoples’ way of living also in the context of what is being done to the environment.’

Is that where you hope to find yourself after graduating from here?

‘As I see it now, I might go for a Master in sustainability, but the choice is still open. First I may want to join the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ College’s East Africa programme. That will give an opportunity to work on my both majors from yet a different angle.’