I graduated in June. I keep on telling this to people, from different perspectives, how I defended my thesis in the morning and after lunch attended my first official team meeting as a research assistant. How that’s a reason for why I’ve been feeling so exhausted this fall. How I didn’t realize until quite recently that I’ve actually graduated: Katja, MSc. How there simply hasn’t been any time for me to stop, breathe and have a think on where I want to go, now that the path that I’ve been on since high school has come to an end.
The past fall has been a roller-coaster. On the one hand, I can’t believe my luck for getting the opportunity to work with what I’m doing right now. But also, on the other hand, it is a really tough transition to go from being a master’s student to being a research assistant, with responsibility for a small, but not insignificant part of a project as unruly and shifty as the one I’m working in. I’ve felt lost, and incompetent at times, confused, frustrated, excited, inspired, exhausted. And now, I feel like the long Christmas break that I took meant I could re-boot. Get a new perspective. Take control. I’m not saying I’ve got it all figured out, no, but I feel hopeful about the future.
And today I had such an amazing day. I woke up feeling rested. I got a massage from the center’s visiting massage therapist before lunch. I had a cup of coffee, just because I felt like getting an extra kick, and then the afternoon just flew by while I played around in a GIS, something which most of the time makes me feel competent and awesome. I really do know how to deal with a GIS. And then I went to a gym class together with Jessica led by Linda, a former classmate of ours. It is a really intense class, but Linda is such a great teacher and once it was over, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to go down the stairs to the women’s changing room. My legs were shaking. Luckily, Linda shared her orange with me and I slowly regained control over my muscles while Linda and I had a really nice conversation in the sauna.
High on exercise endorphins, walking home from the tube though the below -10°C cold, I felt exuberant, and so lucky that I had the master’s class that I had. And now, we’ve all graduated and are trying our wings out in the world. I am going to have such an amazing network of sustainability professionals to turn to, for support and inspiration and opportunities. It’s already started. Linda has founded a company together with her sister and two friends (Beteendelabbet, check it out!) where they are consulting on nudging and other science-based tools for changing people’s behaviors towards more sustainable practices. Today, Kate left Sweden to go back to her native New Zealand, where she is to start working for the Ministry for the Environment as a research analyst. Jessica will be off to Australia in less than two months to start her PhD on governance of marine resources.
And the list goes on. My classmates are spreading across the world, which is sad, but also amazing. We were 17 to start that master’s in September 2013, and now, still high on the day I’ve had, I’m excited to see where both I and all the others end up. I am sure it’s going to be awesome.
Katja Malmborg 