Valentine’s Day | Yasin and Laura met ten years ago in the cafeteria on REC
Love is in the air: Saturday February 14 it is Valentine’s Day again. In this mini-series various couples share their stories of how they once met as UvA students. Today: Yasin Tunçbilek (40) and Laura Schutte (33), who met in the cafeteria at Roeterseilandcampus.
Yasin: “In January of 2016, I had only a week left before my thesis deadline, so I just wanted to quickly grab something to eat and get back to work. I picked up a veggie satay, sat down at a table, and suddenly found myself sitting opposite Laura.”
Laura: “I thought he said something to me – which later turned out not to be the case at all, by the way – but because I responded, a conversation started. We got talking, but I was in a hurry and had to leave again fairly quickly. That’s when Yasin asked for my number.”
Yasin: “Very romantic, by the belt where you return the empty trays. I walked over and thought, I’m just going to do it.”
Laura: “I thought he was good-looking, and I was open to dating. So a week later we had our first date planned.”
Yasin: “It was on a Friday evening, at a little place in Amsterdam West. At first I didn’t really want to meet up straight away because I was so focused on my thesis, but for her I was happy to make an exception. Such a beautiful woman.”
“I still remember from that first short conversation that Laura commented on my accent. I’m from the south, and back then it was quite noticeable, so she made a few jokes about it.”
Laura: “I’m from Amsterdam myself, so I had to say something about it. Apparently it was appreciated.”
Yasin: “Oh yes, I found the teasing quite funny.”
Calm and Harmony
Laura: “We didn’t study together, weren’t part of the same group of friends, and we genuinely had different interests. Yasin loves sport, data, and is very much a people person, whereas I’m more into one-to-one friendships and enjoy analysing and philosophising. And yet we align very closely in how we approach life. We share the same emotional intensity, and we find each other in a sense of calm and harmony. We’re open to things and curious.”
Yasin: “That’s how we quickly realised it felt right. When I handed in my thesis, Laura was the first person I celebrated with. Once I had graduated, some friends secretly organised a party behind my back. They looked Laura up on Facebook and invited her, even though we weren’t officially in a relationship yet. That was a really lovely surprise.”
“And shortly afterwards, when I went to live in Eindhoven for a while – which is actually where I’m from – I was, in practice, staying over at Laura’s a few nights almost every week.”
Laura: “I missed Yasin very quickly and felt sad when he left again. I wanted him with me.”
Yasin: “With Laura, I found someone I could be myself with and who made me feel comfortable.”
Back at the UvA
Laura: “By now we also have a son, Ilias, he’s one year and four months old. A few months ago, we came back to the UvA with him to take part in a research study.”
Yasin: “But this cafeteria, I hadn’t been here for a very long time. When we met here, I was already in the very final phase of my studies. A week and a half later, I was finished. Still, this is a place full of memories. I experienced many beautiful moments here, so it remains a special place.”
Laura: “Yes, my student days were wonderful too, and then, right at the very end, I met Yasin here as well. Even though it was a long time ago, it still feels very close. Those memories live here and are part of us.”
Yasin studied Communication Science at the UvA until 2016, and Laura graduated in 2017 from the Research Master’s in Psychology.
