From student crush to domestic bliss: Stijn and Suzanne met during TIK Week

In 2011, Suzanne decided to study law in Tilburg. Having studied and lived in Utrecht for five years, Stijn made a switch: he, too, went to Tilburg to study law. During the introduction week (what is now TOP Week), they ended up in the same group, Stijn being the mentor and Suzanne as a new student. Stijn had been on a party vacation the week before and was constantly wearing sunglasses to hide his hangover. Suzanne: “I was more the quiet type and I did not really like boozing and partying. I went along every evening, but made sure I got home in time. Stijn stayed until the end every time and finished the kitty with the other party animals.” 

The first spark 

“During the introduction week, I mailed my mother that I had met some really nice people. Including one extremely nice one, a boy called Stijn, who was quite a bit older than I was. I was smitten right from the start, whereas it took Stijn somewhat longer to experience the chemistry,” Suzanne says. Stijn remembers the moment that he fell in love with Suzanne very well: “We were in the Vidar party bus and Suzanne wondered aloud why students couldn't just drink tea and why it always had to be alcohol. I thought that was so cute.”

Beer and football on the couch

Suzanne and Stijn both lived at Professor de Moorplein, and since Suzanne had an underdeveloped sense of direction, Stijn usually brought her safely home. During the TIK Week, they agreed they would go on a date soon. However, they each have their own perception of how exactly that happened. Suzanne: “In my view, we had a date, and he just did not turn up. We lived in the same building, so I bumped into him in the lift a few days later. I asked him what had happened to our date, and he said that he had had to go to work. Then I asked if he still wanted to go on a date, and he did. So we went off to his apartment together. I sank into a sagging couch, and Stijn gave me an open beer bottle – whereas I am not a beer drinker at all – and turned on the TV to watch football. I actually regretted it right away but in the end it was a very enjoyable evening. I did not get home until three o’clock in the morning.”

Living and studying together 

It took a while before the first step was taken. They had their first kiss a month after they had met, during a party of a fellow TIK group member in Breda. They were an item almost immediately. Stijn was due to go to Louvain, Belgium, for an internship in January. It didn't get in the way of the relationship, but it was “a thing” for a while. “During his time in Louvain, he traveled up and down quite a lot. We sublet his room and lived together on the 26 square meters of my room for about two years. Since we did not have a desk or an office chair, we often studied in the Library. We became a kind of Library couple as a result.”

Especially when the exams were coming up, they spent a lot of time in the Library together. “I always studied in a very organized way, with tight study schedules and everything neatly summarized. But a few days before an exam, I found out that Stijn hadn't done anything yet. He had hardly touched his books. While I was concentrating on my course materials, he had built a website or set up a student business or something. I was stunned every time, because I thought we had been studying together in the Library,” Suzanne laughs.

Being smart with money 

“We ate on campus every day and each spent approximately € 3.50 on lunch,” Suzanne continues. “Quite a lot of money, even though we did not have much to spend. We decided to no longer spend € 7 on lunch every day. I made a plan and calculated how much we would save if we kept this up for a few months. All the money we saved bought us a holiday in Spain.”
 

Opposites attract 

When a relationship becomes official, it is time to introduce your partner to your parents and family. Suzanne: “I had a friend who told me: ‘He is eight years older than you. Surely you are going to break up with him?’ My mother did not really approve. My brother was 20 and I was 18, so when I brought a 26-year-old boyfriend home, age was a thing. Stijn looked really cool in his typical student look, but in reality, he is very gentle and kind-hearted. My family noticed this when I introduced him. Despite our age difference, we were very much on the same page in everything else.

“Stijn used to be quite the party animal. Very cool, handsome, and attractive. I’m glad he has got that partying out of his system now. He is totally focused on our family and I really appreciate that. He is also incredibly sweet, calm, and loving. He has always been like that, really,” Suzanne reminisces. Stijn: “I have always been a little introverted, whereas Suzanne is truly extraverted. You can tell immediately whether she is having a good or a bad day. She is bubbly, but also steady and dedicated to what she does. I admire that a lot in her.”

Building a life as a family 

Suzanne knew from a young age that she wanted to study law and become a lawyer. Stijn, on the other hand, was convinced he did not want to become a lawyer. Funny enough, the present situation is the reverse: Suzanne is working as a policy advisor for spatial planning issues in Laarbeek and Stijn has his own law firm: Boeij Letselschade Advocatuur, specializing in personal injury. The couple got married and built their own home in Beek en Donk, where they live with their son Diederik and daughter Guusje. “We are going through a tough few years,” Suzanne says. “We are in the middle of a period with sleepless nights and caring for our children. A big contrast with the time when we had just met and had few responsibilities. Fortunately, we are of the same mind about what we think is important in life. It has always been like that.” 

Back to Tilburg

Stijn: “If we can find a babysitter, we go back to Tilburg now and them. Last year, we stayed in the Van der Valk hotel in Tilburg and spent the day in the city. We parked the car near our former home and walked the same routes as we used to. We ended our tour on the university campus and had a coffee in the Library. We are not the same Stijn and Suzanne as we were then, so it was a lot of fun walking around and sharing memories.”

Date of publication: 3 April 2024