Lara Löser: "We are glad that we can share this moment with our biggest cheerleaders: our family and friends."

Helloooo, how is life?

For those who don’t know, that was usually how our classes with Stefano began. So, I just wanted to, at least once, also experience this feeling.

Since I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Master´s Degree Graduates and represent, at the same time, the program of International Relations and Regional Studies, I thought that I will talk about some anecdotes of the past two years. So that our families and friends get an idea of what we have been up to in the past two years.

So, here is an imaginary week of a student studying International Relations and Regional Studies: It starts on Monday with a deadline too late reminded at 10 am: questions to the readings in International Relations. Needless to say, you submit the questions at 9:59 at the earliest. But you made it, and you go on with your day, proud. Only to get the feedback to your questions: I don’t understand your questions, smiley-face.

Well, and I am just using this opportunity standing in front of you today to confess: Me neither. But I would also take a moment to say that I am so grateful to all our professors and teachers for always acknowledging our efforts with a smiley-face. And if we got it right, believe me, it made our world. So, thank you for your support and patience. And as proof, until this day, my phone possesses a screenshot with the first compliment that I got for my questions in IR: “That is actually a good question”.

Nevertheless, after the feedback, you call it quits for today, and you promise yourself that next week, you will start earlier with the readings. Everyone in this room instantly knows that this is not going to happen.

Tuesday starts with the famous International Relations, where you may or may not have googled all the theories floating around the room. Later in Conflict management, you are confronted with group work and the inevitable fact of being a group leader and being responsible for a bunch of people. Unnecessary to say you call it quits for today.

Wednesday starts great with the famous opening that you heard at the beginning of my speech. Only that your response may have been less exciting and happy during the semester. You go on with your life, walking clueless into Security Politics, only to find out that today you have a seminar and a lot of readings to do. Therefore, you just hope that your classmates knew better, but the thing with students is that we all more or less think the same. So, no. The seminar hit us all, again, totally unprepared. Unnecessary to say you call it quits for today.

On Thursday, you are filled with pride since you almost made it through the week. BUT…from 4 to 8pm, four hours by the way, International Law comes your way. On your way home, you feel exhausted. But then the spirits of Social Sciences visit you unexpectedly, and all of a sudden, you come up with the perfect theoretical argument: If there is a lot to do and you have a lot of stress, then you need to go out and hang with your classmates. So, you write into the group chat: “Hey, besties.” And the rest is history…

On Friday morning, you would come up with a second theoretical argument: If there is a lot to do and you still go out with your friends, then you will regret it the next day. The theoretical framework for both hypotheses is, by the way, constructivism of a student´s life. So, that was an imaginary week of a student studying IR and Regional studies.

But jokes aside, I think that I speak on behalf of all Master´s students when I say that the last two years were incredible, and we are glad that we can share this moment with our biggest cheerleaders: our family and friends. Our time at Skytte has been wonderful, and wherever we will end up, we’re proud to call ourselves graduates of the Skytte Institute and alumni of the University of Tartu. And I can´t wait to see the process of those wonderful people that I have met and see them go out into the world and make it a better place.

So, a very Estonian way of ending a speech at a graduation ceremony: Tubli ja aitäh!

Lara Löser, Graduate of the International Relations and Regional Studies Curriculum.

Speech Behalf of the Master’s Degree Graduates on Skytte Graduation Ceremony 14 June 2023