Almost exactly a year ago I was completely lost. I had been accepted and apparently become a student at Leiden University, but I had no idea what classes I would take, what classes I needed to take, or even what classes were available. It took several meetings with different people to figure it all out. It all seemed rather unorganised.
Fast forward to yesterday, standing in the old university building of Leiden, waiting for my graduation ceremony (the "bul"). I had no idea what to expect or what the general ceremony would be like. All I knew beforehand was the address, the time, and that I could bring a "limited amount of people".
It turns out, it was my own private ceremony. I was part of the Graduation Class of Me. Every day that I wake up will be like a reunion! Man, I felt like the total attention-whore. I had invited four people to a party just for me. It was like my own super sweet 16 party, except without a video message from Puff Daddy.
But it all finished, and as all masters graduates at Leiden University do, I got to write my name on the wall in a certain room called the "zweetkamertje". This is a tradition going back four hundred years. So now my name is among lots of famous people that I have never heard of.
And with that surprise, the year of study is all over. I feel like somehow I cheated the system by studying something I actually like, and that I don't feel like I deserve this diploma. But I have already buried it somewhere so they can never take that away from me.
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