Paul van Dam, master’s student International Land and Water Management
‘We have been in a relationship for three years, but we have known each other since we were young. We met again by chance when we joined the same programme in Wageningen, and it still took a few more years before we started dating.
We are getting married in January and we will move in together immediately after. Now that we are both nearing graduation, the obvious next step is to find a place of our own. By getting married, we are putting in writing, not just for us but also for the rest of the world, what we already know: that we love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together. Some people feel it to be oppressing to be tied down in a relationship at a young age, but I feel it provides freedom, as you have a solid base you can move forward from and make choices for the next stages of your life.
We are making a conscious choice to continue together, with the agreement that you can always call each other on that choice. I believe that God has given us relationships to learn how much He loves us. A relationship is dynamic and certainly knows difficult times as well, but as long as you keep communicating and love each other, these times only make you stronger. Elderly couples, like my grandparents, have always been a substantial example to me. A relationship is about the other person: you want to take care of each other and help each other grow. I hope to further fulfil this by getting married.’