Mastery takes many forms

Last Friday, I had the pride and pleasure (and probably a touch of positive prejudice too) of seeing my daughter graduate with her Research Master's in historical linguistics at Leiden University, the oldest seat of learning in the Netherlands.

This degree has been achieved despite the very difficult circumstances imposed on her by the pandemic as well as some intense personal challenges, so I was clapping fit to burst when she received her official certficate.

I found the ceremony itself the most interesting and enjoyable of any academic award occasions I've experienced. Firstly, the building was really such a lovely setting. Leiden university exudes that aura of ancient and hallowed academia. I imagine it's similar to the atmosphere at Cambridge or Oxford universities. I could almost smell the parchment as I sat on the old pews in the gorgeously panelled room. Wonderful.

Daughter's pitch on the fascinating
subject of old English syntax

Secondly, each recipient (there were about ten of them) had to give a one-minute speech about their research topic, an ideal length because it forced them to be concise and invited them to be engaging, a bit like giving an elevator pitch. I enjoyed all of them; they were so varied and much more exciting than I could have imagined. There were even some topics that made me wish I could go back to university and study, for instance, inter-language code switching among bi-lingual people. I have spent a few years now being a sounding board for Jo's research on a particular area of historical syntax, but now I learned of even more subjects to intrigue me. 

Anyway, after each speech, their supervisors (if present) said suitably complimentary things about them and then each new Master's graduate was handed their diploma and a single rose. Those whose supervisors weren't there had accolades heaped on them in the form of a letter instead. It was all very moving.

Happy with her Master's and her rose

After receiving their degrees, the next ritual was for the new graduates to sign their names on the 'wall of fame'. In fact, the wall is an entire room on one of the upper floors of the building and represents a tradition of long and noble practice. Every centimetre of each wall is covered in tiny autographs, some of which are protected due to the status of the scribe; Winston Churchill is one of them, along with the signatures of a number of the 'Oranje' family (the current royals). I should add that Churchill didn't study at Leiden but he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law in 1946. This link to the university's website explains more. I believe Koos’s son’s name is also there somewhere too, probably quite far up given his lofty two-metre height.

Waiting outside the room

My daughter making her mark

I snapped away as Jo signed her name, and we tried to zoom in on it....well, we know it's there, even if it's barely distinguishable from all the other scribbles. They're only allowed to write in pencil, so the pencil in the photo marks the spot

Hard to see, but her signature is there

A happy girl

Looking down into the courtyard

Celebrating with coffee

After a celebratory cup of coffee in one of the campus's wonderfully comfortable coffee bars, we took a walk through Leiden, past its historic harbour.

However, Leiden deserves its own blog post, so I'll keep the rest for next time. I have photos of graceful old boats and also the fascinating timmerwerf  (carpentry yard), which we were lured into on route. For now, suffice to say, I was a happy mum to have seen my girl achieve what she's worked so hard for, and I'll leave you with this typically Dutch bridge and windmill.

And then a walk through beautiful Leiden

 Have a good week, allemaal and watch this space for a return to boats and barges in my next post.