Christmas and the New Year are approaching and it is time to sum up another year at Karlstad University. The 25th in order, or the 47th or 181st, depending on how you count. Or the second, for me personally.
I want to start by thanking all of your for doing such a fantastic job throughout the past year. It is a great privilege to work with you – together we make a difference every day.
I will not attempt to list all of this year’s successes, because there are so many that I would most likely miss something important. Instead, I would like to invite you to make your own list of what you and your colleagues have achieved during the year. You do not have to share your list with anyone else, but simply take a moment to reflect.
You will probably be surprised at how much you have actually accomplished. If you were to then compare your own list with the lists of your colleagues, you would probably be struck by the fact that they are quite different, and that if you were to combine them, it would make for a very long list.
That is the beauty of working at a university with such high standards and diverse expertise. A week, a month, a semester and a year contain so much.
One colleague gives a speech at the Nobel Banquet, another starts a new industrial graduate school, a third receives a grant that lays the foundation for the activities of a research team, a fourth completes their doctoral thesis, a fifth is named teacher of the year by the student union, a sixth hosts an international conference, a seventh solves the final piece of the puzzle to balance a budget, an eighth supports a colleague going through a tough time, a ninth launches a new degree programme, and a tenth reforms an existing one.
As vice-chancellor, I have the privilege of benefiting a little from the lists of all our 1,400 employees.
When you reflect on your list, I think you should allow yourself to feel proud and happy about your efforts, as well as asking yourself how much of this you could have achieved without your colleagues. For me, the answer is obvious: without you and your excellent teamwork, my list would be very short and almost insignificant.
With this said, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you get the chance to relax and enjoy some well-deserved time off. I’m looking forward to taking on the coming year together with you!
