About - Kathryn van den Berg

About Katy

KatyCan, Kathryn, Katy, The Control Enthusiast …These are the names of the mastermind behind the website, the business and the blog. Queue spotlight accompanied by Charles Dumont’s Non, Je ne regrette rien which I heard for the first time watching ‘Madagascar 3’…cultured, I know.

I’ve included the video below for your viewing pleasure…scroll through the page with that background music and you can’t help but smile.

I have two degrees… (so far!) and am formally schooled in visual studies, English and media analysis. More than any formal academic education, however, is my innate passion for writing, content creation and the world of the visual!

Now you have some assurance of my qualifications in case you want to employ me (check out ‘KatyCan’!) or subscribe to my blog.

Charles Dumont’s Non, Je ne regrette rien

I met van Gogh (not for the first time, actually) at the Kuntsmuseum Den Haag. You can see by the look on my face that this was totally an every-day occurrence and definitely nothing special.

See my article posted in DutchReview: https://dutchreview.com/culture/a-mosaic-map-colours-life-into-delft-history/

Admiring Piet Mondriaan's 'Victory Boogie Woogie' (1942-44) in KUNSTMUSEUM DEN HAAG. This piece is the latest unfinished work of the Dutch abstract painter. Abstract, indeed.

Strolling past priceless collections of Delft and Chinese pottery.

I was actually laughing. This was surreal (haha, pun intended).

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) 'La femme au pot de moutarde'. I may or may not have colour coded my outfit to match this piece. That is not nerdy at all.

Standing between two Picasso's. I don't know how else to say that so that it doesnt sound snobbish. Screw it...HERE'S ME STANDING BETWEEN TWO PICASSO'S.

Rembrandt and I were in deep philosophical discussion.

Vermeer's 'The Girl with the Pearl Earing' is a trick of light personified- as ridiculous and self-centred as this sounds, I feel like the muse knows me.

The smile in anticipation of entering the Mauritshuis for the second time.

At the Diamant Museum Amsterdam. Of course I found the van Gogh piece re-imagined with tiny diamonds interwoven in the work. I'm like a magpie.

I tend to play the devils advocate on a lot of controversial topics because I am fascinated by people’s points of view and how they argue them.

What sets me apart (queue the narcissism accompanying youth):

I am witty, outgoing, charismatic, genuine, argumentative, passionate, enthusiastic, thoughtful, and funny. I am also humble.

I have experience as a journalist for my campus newspaper, for which I was also the News Editor (this changed my life and impacted what I want to do for the rest of it). I’ve grown up reading Rahld Dahl, JRR Tolkein and Ken Follett (talk about name-dropping, jeepers) and am just naïve and optimistic enough to fancy myself capable of writing similar best-sellers.

2023

Hired by the Observant newspaper to manage their social media and later, to do an internship with them.

2022

Starting my Master’s Degree in Media Studies: Digital Cultures at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

2019

I wrote articles for NETWERK24’s Die Student, which were published on the website for the news outlet.

2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, my business took off. KatyCan creates and redesigns CVs and LinkedIn profiles for people from all over the world. KatyCan continues to expand into new ventures.

2021

Upon my first visit to Amsterdam, I applied to be a contributing writer for the popular magazine: Dutch Review. Talk about making industry connections…

2018

I was selected as News Editor on the Main Editorial Team for Die Matie responsible for the news section of the paper. To be cliché, this was the time of my life.

2017

I was introduced to the world of journalistic exploits. I volunteered as a journalist for the student campus newspaper, Die Matie. I wrote articles published bi-monthly on a variety of student-related topics.

2015

I achieved the top of grade results for matric (Grade 12) English and Applied English writing. My essays were published in school yearbooks from 2013-2015.