I’ve had a couple of rough days (weeks? months?) and when life starts messing with you all of a sudden it becomes much harder to cope with the huge work load as well. I usually don’t have a problem juggling research projects, teaching, board work, supervision and being a director of studies (at least not big problems), but this year’s been hard.

And just when I started to think “is it really worth it?”, I got this wonderful thank you letter in my office mail box. It reminded me of what a privilege it is to work as an academic.
In September last year I was the first opponent at a dissertation in Norway. It’s of course a lot of work you need to put into this, but you also get to be a part of one of the most important days of another persons life – and not just the actual dissertation, but you get to join in the celebrations as well and meet family and friends who have all supported the PhD student through this journey. It’s really an amazing experience!

So, thank you, Jorunn, for letting me be part of your disputas! And for reminding me of the rewards of being an Academic.

[post 34 in the #blogg100 challenge – I’ll keep counting and see which number I’ve reached by the time the challenge officially ends…]