To look forward to looking back
To look forward to looking back
Writer: Tord Kristian F. Andersen
After six years of studies, I am currently in the process of defending the master thesis. Is that why I am here in Ås? To complete my degree? The short answer is of course: yes. The long one is, well, let me try. It is not just about getting a diploma in your hand, in a cynical transaction between you and the authorities. You are here to learn, are you not? And I am not only talking about what you’re studying. It is far more to do at the university than to look forward to being finished.
The university is from Latin and means wholesome or community. This is because it is a place where any kind of person and disciplines come together under one roof. Yes indeed, what people you get to meet! That it is a place for interdisciplinary activity is so fundamental that it’s the whole point of the institution. But if you do nothing more than go back and forth to classes in the standardized curriculum, what benefit do you really gain from it?
In the series finale of the TV-show “The Office”, it’s said: “I wish there was a way to know you're in "the good old days", before you've actually left them.” In my eyes, there is a way to do that - by creating new memories. The brain always prefers new things. Have you ever noticed yourself driving on the highway, then suddenly find yourself home without remembering the journey? This is often called “Highway hypnosis”. It’s the brain not retaining information it’s familiar with. A well-trodden path. An uneventful journey. Some people recommend changing up your usual travel routes. It is like that in life too.
By seeking out new things, you will remember each day as they come and goes. And I am not only talking about school, no, far from it. I am talking about information that challenge you as a person. That challenge your abilities. If you never go out of your comfort zone day in and day out, you risk turning 65 years old without knowing where the time really went. When you look back at the good old days, you will remember what’s worth remembering, but first, the memories need to be created.
This will be my last piece as a member of the Tuntreet editorial team. This has been for me a place to learn about myself and others, about history and the present. Not everyone will enjoy Tuntreet the way I have, but most people will find themselves a similar place that gives them what I have found here. And you should. Something outside of your courses, something driven purely by your own interest. What the urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg called a “Third place”. An addition to a home or a workplace. I don’t remember all the courses I have taken, but I remember every single story I have written.
I have met several people, some of them good friends, who have been eager to finish and to get into a workplace, but guess what? You can work for the rest of your life. Don’t grow up too fast, dear Ås-student! Some doors remain closed forever once you move on. Looking forward to looking back is not about finishing as quickly as possible so you can reminisce later; it is about having something to reminisce about.
