Take your time – and then give it away

“Learn, be curious and feed your longing”: Norwegian language teacher Erik Skuggevik passed on words of wisdom on behalf of the teachers to the Class of ISS 2019 at their Farewell Ceremony.

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Photo: Nita Kapoor

Dear students of the class of 2019.

So, the time has come. Although the evening is young.

What to forget and what to remember… Moments in the sunshine on the grass and information overload in a class, noise in the corridors at night, the last bus home and the mental fright of not finding your keys, your books or your best essay yet. The eyes of the people you met, or, without being rude, the funny food – is it a soup or a salad dressing? Will you remember the breeze caressing the nape of your neck? Or the fact that your teacher turned into a wreck? Will you find one day in an old travel case  a crumpled visa  and a crocheted heart in vermillion red made by – was it Lisa?

What is worth remembering?

Fleetingly or otherwise, you have met fellow souls here. Some you will see for the last time tonight, perhaps most. But it isn’t true, we will see each other again, with different names, in different places. They won’t recognise you, but in them you will see an echo of people you knew.

They take their little jigsaw places in the sum of our experience that, whether we’re young or old, at any given time we carry with us. And how do we grasp the world if not as a construct in our heads and in our souls of the friends and people we have met, not just from different countries, but from difference itself, we are equally different – and differently equal in our lust for knowledge of the meaning of time, whether we are young or old or temporarily placed in between, whether we are students or teachers, whether facilitators, or…facilitatees.

The meaning of life. We are maybe not that well equipped to understand it. But the meaning of time we all know. We know it isn’t measured in seconds, minutes or days, how silly – it is measured in units of sharing. The meaning of time is a conversation, a helping hand, sharing a meal, sharing a goal; a friend, whether short-term or long-term, gives meaning to time, doing things together is what time is for. Maybe even learning together.

So, the night is young. What should we remember? We will soon part, but so what? We are part of one another already. And maybe we will forget in years to come, but we can’t unlive lived life.

So let me end with a message from everyone at ISS, but especially from your teachers: Learn, be curious, feed your longing... But most importantly: Take your time – and then give it away.

By Erik Skuggevik
Published Aug. 2, 2019 12:51 PM - Last modified July 27, 2022 1:48 PM