For the first time in years, the elections for the student council are a battle between two parties. Members of AKKUraatd and asap run for the eight available seats. Starting today, students can vote. The outcome follows on Friday.

Student party De Vrije Student (the Free Student) has said goodbye to Nijmegen, after it did not manage to win a seat in the student council. Another party, Faculteitsbelangen (Faculty interests) never really took flight and turned out to be a protest party by disgruntled science students.

This year, the student elections are a fight of two parties: AKKUraatd and asap. In the current student council, they divide the eight seats: four each. Leaders Gijs Kooistra (AKKUraatd) and Jessica Oudenampsen (asap) hope to change that this year.

Kooistra is in his third year as a political science student. He calls himself an idealist and wants to make sure that every student counts on the Nijmegen campus. Think of the international student, who does not have a real meeting point on campus right now. Loneliness is always a risk. And the money that goes to Honours Academy now, should be used for the benefit of all students.

Oudenampsen is the personification of the active student. Even though she has to do her medical internships next year (‘about sixty hours a week’), she also wants to defend the interests of the Nijmegen student. She enjoys this so much that she considers a different career than doctor in the future. ‘I enjoy policy and management more, to be honest.’ Oudenampsen wants to work towards a culture change, in which students can develop themselves in different fields, and not everything is about high grades.