My thesis is finished. I submitted it on Monday at about 3am. It was due Tuesday before 11am. I’m not completely happy with it because when I was writing it I believed I had until the 18th of May. As it happens that’s the due date for the project but the due date to print it was the 11th. As I don’t have the few hundred dollars to print the project on my own in a print shop I had to meet the school print department deadline. So it’s not perfect in my eyes. But as my professor said, it never will be. I am happy I got the opportunity to write this work. It’s been a heck of a ride. My zeal for studying mediaeval history has only increased. I do hope one day in the future to be able to undertake a Ph.D. continuing where my master’s left off. There is plenty of work to be done there yet. And it seems in Europe there are a few mediaeval history centres so I might one day hook up with one. For now, I have to find a job haha.
I’m going to dedicate this post as a big thank you to various persons, a shortened version of this is actually in the acknowledgments of the thesis. However, I do feel the need to write something here as well.
Firstly, I’d like to thank my friends back home, both mine and my parents’. They supported me in making the choice to come Norway. I have no doubt most, if not all thought the venture crazy yet they held their tongues and urged me on. For that I am grateful. It’s easy to smash the dreams of another and without their support I would have been hard pressed to believe what I was doing was worthwhile. Thanks guys.
Professor Bednarski (I have to use your last name, my internetiphobia already has me thinking even this is too much) deserves a thank you because no other single individual has so strongly urged, almost ordered me to do what I’m doing academically. He has always been very supportive and helped me grow academically to levels I didn’t know existed. Thank you professor.
I’d like to thank my friends here in Norway, both profs and students. There’s a bit of a list of people both Norwegian and foreign, in my program and outside of it but they’ve all earned a thank you. They helped me settle into my life as a student in Norway. They also made it a great time outside of the classroom and more importantly have taught me how to be social. They’re a great and wonderful bunch and I desperately hope that all of them remain in my life. Thank you all.
I will single out one friend from Canada, Simonella. The one buddy who kept me sane through insanity both in person and via email. His support has been incalculable. I cannot imagine a life without a friend as good as him. Thanks for being there for me man and making sure I take nothing too seriously, least of all myself.
I would like to thank Anne’s parents. They have shared their home, cottage, time, energy, and food with me (at Norwegian prices, believe me the latter is nothing to sneeze at) to great lengths. They have provided me with so much I can’t probably word it. They took and interest in me and always made sure I was ok. They provided a haven of normalcy in Norway for me that it began to feel like I had a second home, a place to feel comfortable and without stress. Thank you Mr.and Mrs. S.
My sister and Jamie. The people I could always count on not to give me any hell for doing something stupid. You were both open and honest but caring and supportive. My sister of course always let me come to her with anything and didn’t judge me. It was an important psychological prop-up for me. Thank you both.
Anne. I don’t always express how grateful I am and I should. Next to my parents she has helped me the most. So much of everything I’ve been able to do is thanks to her. Thank you Anne.
And of course, my mom and dad. The support was unequaled and their patience is titanic even for parents. They’ve put some of their plans on hold to help me fund this little excursion and deserve more thanks than I could ever return. The project may as well bear their names for they’ve put in as much or more effort and heart into it then I have. I just wish it would do them justice though nothing ever could. Thank you mom and dad.
Well, to help me keep from crying I’m going to tell you about how I got stuck at the school overnight. What, how is that possible, you’re thinking. Yes, that’s what I thought. The masters students in the ILN department (Institutt for lingvistiske og nordiske studier) have a reading/study call available to them. It is key-card locked so not everyone has access. The door to the building also has keycard access. The way it works is that after 2100 you have to use your card along with a PIN to get into the building. Well I was desperate on Thursday evening to finish my project for Friday (obviously it’s still not done) so I stayed in the study hall until 2am. The last person had left before 2300 and I had the room to myself. It was wonderfully quiet. At midnight all of the lights shut off. I thought nothing of it as I still had a desk lamp and typing on a computer doesn’t require much light. At 2am I got sleepy and decided it was time to go home. I packed up everything and swiped out of the study hall but when I got to the building’s exterior doors they wouldn’t open. The swiper rejected my card and PIN. I tried like ten times but no dice. I was stuck. I also couldn’t get back into the study hall to work through the night because that door was locked down as well. I checked some windows but they didn’t open wide enough for me to jump out. So I ended up sleeping in the building foyer on a couch until 6am when I thought the locks might be working again and thankfully they were. I trudged home and got into my real bed and slept until noon.
So the lesson is that while you may be certain that buildings will keep people from coming IN after a certain hour, never assume you’ll always be able to get OUT because who would believe someone would want to get out of a building after midnight right?
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