Yesterday I submitted my thesis. The MSLS experience is now officially over, so I can reflect and look back at this year as a whole…
The last few weeks have been pretty emotionally charged with too many nights of staying up way too late. That’s easy to do in Sweden this time of year, when it starts getting light again before it ever gets properly dark. Not only that, but our community is slowly being dismantled one person at a time, it seems like every night is a farewell party for someone leaving. Our bubble is slowly deflating and it’s a bit sad to see all these amazing people go.
Our Graduation Evening
It’s funny looking back at my first posts about Sweden, when I couldn’t see what the program was all about. In retrospect, I made the mistake of looking at it as a serious academic Master’s in Sustainability. Since January my frustrations have stemmed from wanting to write a good thesis after having had only a lecture or two on research methods. As a result, it felt like we were conducting research on a trial and error basis, which is a bad way to do research if you only have a few months. So in an academic light MSLS was maybe not a huge success. But if I look at it as an alternative educational program with an emphasis on learning how to work with other people and build community, it was undoubtedly a big success and I don’t at all regret coming here.
During our graduation evening, our program director (somewhat tipsy) admitted that if you look at MSLS on paper it’s just a bunch of bullshit. She probably won’t appreciate the fact that I’m quoting her, but her point was that it’s the intangibles that matter. Few MSLS grads will deny that it’s an experience that turns you upside down and shakes you to the core. I have been shaken, and I am curious where this will lead me next. It’s comforting to be part of an alumni network of like-minded people, and it feels a bit like we’re now part of a secret society. Aside from a passion for making the world better, we have our own lingo and a common tie that no one else can truly understand – 10 months in a microcosm of the world, in a sleepy little town called Karlskrona…
Congratulations!