Hey, I am Jan and I study in Maastricht, Netherlands

If you had a day off, what would be the first thing you would want to do?

I would probably get up later than usual, and after a long breakfast, I would spend the day with friends and ideally somewhere in a garden – cooking and eating together, listening to music, watching movies or playing games.

Name a problem that you would like to solve.

A specific issue that I would like to tackle is the inequality between cities and rural areas. I believe that this divide exists in many regions of the world and results in many different problems: The lack of opportunities for many people living in rural areas, or the political polarisation between the urban society and the countryside are just two examples. I think that helping to create a dialogue and raising awareness for those problems is a first step in addressing this issue.

 Unusual ritual?

I take a lot of time for breakfast and I listen to music or a podcast. This means that I prefer getting up earlier over sleeping longer and having to have breakfast in a rush. This might not be something too unusual, but long and relaxed breakfasts are definitely a daily habit of mine. 

One thing you want to do before you’re thirty?

I would like to discover Europe by having long bike tours (over several days) together with friends.