It was through the student association that she found her room almost two years ago. “I used to live in a house on Boschstraat. I was the youngest person there; most were in their late twenties or even in their thirties. I wanted to live in a young, active student house, preferably in the city centre. When I saw this room advertised on our private Facebook page, I applied right away.”
It was a big step for Ottens to move from Oosterhout, Brabant, to Maastricht. “I thought I was going to fail my final year of secondary school, and I was fine with that. I found it difficult to leave behind the familiar.” She could’ve applied to Tilburg University and continued to live with her parents, but she stepped out of her comfort zone because the European Studies programme at Maastricht University appealed to her most. Looking back, she’s happy with the way everything turned out. “Two of my secondary school friends also moved to Maastricht and I still see them all the time. We’re in the same student association club.”
Her passport is lying on the edge of the table. She has already used it six times this year. She’s been to Bratislava with friends, to Luxembourg with her sister, on a skiing holiday in Risoul and on a trip to Prague with Circumflex, and to Budapest with the Alamanak committee (“the Alamanak is kind of like the association’s social yearbook”). What was the most memorable part of all those trips? “We woke up one morning in Budapest to find a complete stranger sleeping on our couch. We hadn’t closed the door properly and he must’ve mistakenly walked into the wrong apartment.” After some yelling and a pocket search, the man left. “I think it’s kind of funny now.”
This summer Ottens went on a trip through Poland with her parents and sister. “We still go on holiday together every year. We’re very close.” They’ve previously travelled to countries such as South Africa, Israel, and Vietnam. “We’re staying closer to home this time because of the pandemic. We originally wanted to travel through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, but when we were planning our holiday back in December, it was just too complicated with all the borders and different Covid-19 restrictions.”
She’s also close with her grandmother. There’s a postcard on the wall from Oosterhout, where Ottens is from. “My grandma likes to send me postcards. She used to babysit us when we were little, three times per week. We call every week, and I go back to Oosterhout about once every two weeks. She lives just five minutes away from us. We often go into town to shop and catch up. We talk about everything. After my relationship ended, I spent a week in Oosterhout. My parents had to work a lot, but my grandma regularly stopped by to check in on me.”
There’s a beautiful black evening dress hanging on the wardrobe. “It’s for a Circumflex gala”, says Ottens. She already knew that she wanted to join Circumflex before she even arrived in Maastricht. “A friend’s sister was on the board that year. I didn’t even look into any of the other associations.”
In the corner of the room sits a black guitar. “I taught myself to play the guitar. I looked up the chords and practised with a guide for beginners. I already knew how to read music; I played the flute for ten years.” She plays her guitar and sings, too, when no one is home. “I’m afraid to sing and play in front of others”, she explains. “It makes me feel vulnerable. What if I make a mistake? It’s weird, really, because I don’t feel that way when it comes to my studies or other things.” So she won’t play a song, not even one? “No!”