{"id":162761,"date":"2023-12-21T13:54:52","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T12:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=162761"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:06","slug":"students-pay-a-tribute-without-her-i-dont-know-if-i-can-handle-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/12\/21\/students-pay-a-tribute-without-her-i-dont-know-if-i-can-handle-it-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Students pay tribute: ‘Without her, I don’t know if I can handle it all’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who would you like to pay tribute to this Christmas? Students share stories about the most important person in their lives. “All my mother wants for Christmas is to be with her children.”<\/p>\n

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These students share about the most important person in their lives.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDaan Stam<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

'My grandmother is my second mother'<\/h2>
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When she's homesick, Elena calls her grandma.<\/span><\/p>

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Elena immediately thinks of her grandmother. \u201cMy parents both worked, so I spent a lot of time in my childhood with my grandmother\u201d, the Italian International Business Administration student explains. Her grandmother is a typical Italian nonna<\/em>, she says: \u201cShe loves to cook, she is small \u2013 about 145 cm \u2013 but very loud\u201d, she laughs. \u201cBut she is also modern, she said to me the other day: \u2018You really don\u2019t have to get married, you know. You don\u2019t have time for that kind of struggle\u2019. And that, while she has been happily married to my grandfather for forty years.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she gets homesick or when everything feels a bit too much, Elena calls her grandmother. \u201cI think it\u2019s kind of cool that my grandmother, at 82, can app and video call\u201d, she says. In a week\u2019s time, Elena will go to her parents\u2019 home in a town near Venice. Then she will traditionally go to the Christmas market with her grandmother. \u201cWe used to walk around and I\u2019d get candies\u201d, she recalls from the old days. \u201cWe do it every year. I\u2019m 22, so I\u2019ve been to the Christmas market with her at least twenty times.\u201d<\/p>\n

'Without my girlfriend, I don't know if I can handle it all'<\/h2>

Tomek would like to pay tribute to their girlfriend Mia. \u201cShe is so sweet to me. She has always supported me\u201d, they say. \u201cOur situation is a bit atypical, as we have a polyamorous relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tomek is enjoying their new relationship.<\/span><\/p>

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Tomek met Mia through their boyfriend. \u201cMy boyfriend and I were in Lisbon last summer and he knew Mia because they were studying at the same university in Portugal\u201d, the Life Sciences student at Erasmus University College says. \u201cIt was immediately clear that it clicked between the three of us. We spent the summer together and it was fantastic. That\u2019s how our polyamorous relationship started.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Tomek, the new relationship sometimes feels \u2018weird, in a good way\u2019. \u201cI had no experience with it, so combined with my studies and a thousand other things in life, it sometimes feels a bit much\u201d, they say. \u201cWhen I struggle with it, Mia helps me sort things out. She reassures me that everything will be fine. Really, without her I don\u2019t know if I can handle it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

'My mom is the sweetest mother ever'<\/h2>

There is no greater love for Sebastiaan than the love of his mother. \u201cI really have the sweetest mother ever. She has unconditional love for her children\u201d, he says. \u201cEven when she is struggling herself, she still takes care of me and my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three years ago, the Strategic Management student went to live on his own. \u201cI try to visit my mom every week, even if it doesn\u2019t always happen\u201d, he says. \u201cWe do call every day, sometimes it\u2019s a long chat, sometimes she just briefly checks how I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sebastiaan will celebrate Christmas with his mom.<\/span><\/p>

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According to Sebastiaan, his mother is all about love and cosiness, especially during Christmas. \u201cAll she wants for Christmas is to be with her children. She always says: you can travel anywhere and anytime, except for Christmas, because then you have to be with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shortage of fun memories either. \u201cMy mom was a flight attendant, so as a child she often took me on board\u201d, he says. \u201cShe was working, so I\u00a0 would sit by myself and in between, I would get snacks or a sandwich. We flew everywhere, including San Franscisco, Bonaire and Cura\u00e7ao.\u201d<\/p>\n

'We support each other through thick and thin'<\/h2>

Students In\u00e9s and Jes\u00fas are roommates, best friends and each other\u2019s most important person. \u201cWe are together every day and have a lot of fun together\u201d, In\u00e9s says. The Spanish students met five years ago in Maastricht, where they did their bachelor\u2019s studies. \u201cIt was the first hour of the introduction week. It clicked immediately and since then we did our studies together, moved to Rotterdam and have now been living together for three years\u201d, Jes\u00fas says.<\/p>\n

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Jes\u00fas and In\u00e9s support each other through thick and thin. <\/span><\/p>

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They are like brother and sister, says In\u00e9s who is doing master\u2019s degree in Quantitative Finance. \u201cEven when we are in Spain, we visit each other, so our families know each other too.\u201d They cannot imagine themselves without each other. \u201cIt\u2019s very nice when you have someone to support you in difficult moments. Then, for me, Ines is someone to fall back on\u201d, says Jes\u00fas, master\u2019s student in Business Analytics and Management. \u201cYou are for me as well!\u201d, responds In\u00e9s. \u201cI\u2019m so glad we have each other and support each other through thick and thin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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