After leaving school in Maastricht, I wanted to study art history in Leiden, but decided at the last moment to do Public Administration instead. This decision was purely intuitive. During the introduction, we were given a tour of the Academy Building. On the walls were large drawings by Victor de Stuers (1843-1916). This Maastricht native and Leiden alumnus would go on to lay the foundation for modern government policy for the arts. It felt as though Victor personally wanted to tell me I had made the right choice. 'Allebonneur' (Maastricht dialect for 'well done') I heard him say, and that has indeed proven to be true.
