When you enter the main building, you can paint and do crafts on your right-hand side. You can also write a letter to a stranger and at the same time take one that someone else wrote.
The longest line is at the smoothie stand – except for the enormous line for the elevators after lunch. There are also two bicycle setups that can apparently be used to blend a smoothie by using your legs, but they’re not very popular. The server behind the bar uses an ordinary electric blender.
At the Wellbeing Point, you can – as usual – drop by to get something off your chest talking to a fellow student, but now you can also get a professional chair massage there. Privacy screens make sure you’re not too exposed to passersby, though according to the massage therapist, that’s not really necessary for students. They’re happy to get a free massage regardless.
Students and staff can unwind without screens at the ‘No Phone Zone’. You can connect with others, write a Christmas card or relax in a massage chair. One student tried to argue that his laptop was allowed because it wasn’t a phone, but “that’s not the point either”, says one of the attendants. And purely out of habit, a phone still occasionally pops up in the phone-free zone.
Students put on glitter hats at a photobooth, minus the booth part. Instructions appear on a screen and then the photos are printed out.
In the entrance hall, you can get a ten-minute lifestyle coaching session. The coach can for instance give advice if you want to exercise more or overcome an addiction. The coach says she helped a student who “only eats sugar” with tips and a plan to eat better. “There are also students who are really struggling. I referred those to student psychologists or, for example, a general practitioner”, the coach says.
Finally, next to the elevators there’s a table where you can make your own mini magazine. Reflect on a question and manifest your thoughts onto paper with markers, stickers, and glitter.
Curious about what else there is to do? You can find a schedule and program booklet on the VU website.