Noa commuted between Texel and the UvA during her studies (and still graduated cum laude)
If class started at 9 o’clock, Noa Zijlstra’s alarm would go off at a quarter past 4 in the morning. Living on Texel while studying in Amsterdam, the past few years for the UvA student revolved around travelling, travelling, and even more travelling. Despite the long commute, she still managed to graduate cum laude. “Texel is the magic word.”
The bus, the ferry, another bus, the train, the metro, and then a short walk. That was the journey recently graduated Book Studies student Noa Zijlstra (26) made around three times a week for four and a half years, travelling from her home on Texel to her lecture room at the Oudemanhuispoort. Total travel time: three hours. “If I had a class from one until three in the afternoon, I would leave home at a quarter past nine and get back at a quarter past six. That’s a very long day for two hours of teaching,” she observes cheerfully.
“I always tried not to dwell too much on how long I spent travelling, but of course it was sometimes quite tough,” Zijlstra admits. “Especially when a lecture started at 9 o’clock. If I didn’t want to be late, I really had to get up at a quarter past four. Then I’d arrive in Amsterdam at 8 o’clock and know for certain that I would be on time.”
Unfortunate Connection
An unfortunate connection meant that the Texel-based student always arrived either fifty minutes early or ten minutes late at the university. “When I took a course where the classes started at 9 o’clock, after the first lecture I would always ask the lecturer whether it was okay if I arrived ten minutes late in the future.” Fortunately, most lecturers were more than willing to accommodate her. Or as Zijlstra puts it herself: “Texel is the magic word. Lecturers know where it is, they have often been there themselves, or they are simply intrigued when I tell them I live there. So they often didn’t mind at all if I arrived a bit later.”
Still, both at the university and in her own surroundings, her decision to remain living on the West Frisian island was met with some surprise. But for Zijlstra, it was mainly a financial consideration: “I had a free student travel pass, and I could take the ferry with a hundred-ride card for €1.50 per trip. So why would I pay €600 a month for a room in Amsterdam? I once did the maths, and I think that over my 54 months of study I saved somewhere between €30,000 and €40,000.”
Devoted
Still, she is also simply deeply devoted to the island, where both she and her parents were born and raised. “In the end, I always want to go back home. On Texel I know everyone, so I think I would prefer to live here forever.” And that despite not being a beach lover at all: “Very atypical, really. I live ten minutes from the beach, but I don’t really feel the need to go there. I mainly like that Texel is familiar territory; my people are here.”
It meant that the Book Studies graduate never really doubted her choice. “There were certainly times when I had to get up in the middle of the night and thought: I really don’t feel like doing this. But I always did it anyway.” Still, she realises that this commuter lifestyle is not for everyone. “Honestly, I think I’m one of the few people who has done it this way. I don’t know anyone else who stayed living on Texel while studying. You really do need to be disciplined.”
That discipline ensured that Zijlstra, despite the enormous travel time, achieved a 9.5 for her thesis and graduated cum laude. “I worked very carefully and made sure to create a certain structure for myself,” she explains. “I had a fixed routine and would always use the train time to study or complete assignments. In that way, it was actually quite manageable.”
