Living on campus | “I can see the lights of Tilburg from my room”

Many Aurora residents know Jeffrey Schijns (23), Master’s student of Construction, Management & Engineering, from his role in the campus complex as student custodian. It is almost impossible for him to walk through the city without being recognized; he is bound to run into an Aurora resident. He makes a real effort to know them all by name.

There’s a much stronger group feeling among our residents these days, observes Schijns. “We are finding it increasingly easy to get in touch with one another. That is due to our Facebook group, among other things. At the moment we are busy decorating a communal room, a large group of us walked round GLOW together, and before that we had a great Halloween party.”

Jointly with Maria Scholten, Jeffrey is the point of contact for residents. Their tasks are quite different, says Schijns. “At first there was some confusion about where residents should leave their refuse, so that triggered a lot of questions. I sometimes help with an application for rent subsidy or mediate between residents. Recently I acted as an interpreter when someone's laptop was broken. One unusual request was one to give someone's car a push; my entire swim team pitched in to help.”

Last weekend, the Master's student came first in the 50 meters and 100 meters breast stroke at the Limburg championships. The close proximity of the Student Sports Center, where he trains regularly, was one of the chief reasons last September for trading in his room on the Guido Gezellestraat for a room on Aurora's thirteenth floor.

A large poster on the door recalling Limburg's once productive mines (“My granddad worked there.”) is one of the room's striking features. But the chief attraction for Schijns remains the magnificent view. The lights of Tilburg are visible at night, he claims. “Some friends and I checked that out at my housewarming party. We used a GPS system.” When he submitted his room preference, Schijns had already done his homework. “I used a map to check where in the complex you would get the best view. This room topped the list."

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