Back then in 2020 I wouldn’t have had the slightest idea I’d be confined to a laptop screen in pandemic isolation for at least a year. The only thing I could think about was finally having left high school and starting a brand-new chapter. Now four years later in 2024, the thing on my mind is how I even managed to even survive the first year, let alone the additional years to come until graduation. Somehow, me among many others made it happen. As we should and could.
The pandemic was the glue that bridged the last year of high school and the first year of university. When describing my early young adult years, it is impossible to leave that sudden pandemic out. Of course, this pandemic did not loom over all my years spent at uni, but it did contribute to the illusion that only max two years passed while in reality at least four did.
These past four years went by unimaginably fast as if time had frozen. Looking back, though, it cannot be denied that so many things happened as well. These little things and aspects being part of a bigger, greater story such as being confined in my room due to the pandemic, to spending my early and later hours on the third floor of Wijnhaven to leaving the country and city I’ve been in for the past twenty years – back then – for exchange abroad.
It was only until I extended my studies to a fourth year that the rushed and daunting concept of time hit my senses. My significantly reduced appearances at uni and me seeing unfamiliar faces on campus dragged me back to reality. The past few years at Wijnhaven with Schouwburg and Stichthage as cameos felt like living out a main character story with sprinkles of struggle, happiness, luck and drama. Seeing those new and unfamiliar faces who didn’t recognize me either reminded me how so many other students had their own main character stories set on this campus and they were, just like me, in charge of determining what were the main events, who were the guest stars and who were the cameos.
Graduation for this year’s IS batch is soon. As a student originally from the 23’ batch I was surrounded by stories different from this year’s batch. However, taking classes with this year’s batch blessed me with the luxury of being inspired by so many different life stories, plenty to fill endless scrolls of unique tales. Although every year of International Studies is just a number in the full overarching timeline and storyline of the program, spending time with my own year and meeting some people from the year above and below made me realize how beautiful it is to hear these experiences and stories. Although marked by numbers, our stories are not.
I had not imagined myself soon standing on the stage to receive my diploma after years of hard work, but there we are. When I will take that paper in my hands, a specific chapter abundant with tales and stories will conclude. A trajectory I will finish, such as many before me have already done, many after me will and many will be doing so alongside me; who knows what the future holds for us. An ode to International Studies,,,
– Mika
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Image: Priavate
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