“It is a little bittersweet that it is over”
They have studied hard, celebrated, and made friends for life. On Friday evening, 500 candidates stood dressed up and expectant in Grieghallen, ready to walk onto the stage one last time as NHH students.
Before the master’s ceremony begins, the atmosphere is both solemn and a little nervous. Parents, siblings and friends gather around the candidates, taking photos, giving hugs and adjusting dresses, bunads and suits.
“It feels like I arrived yesterday”
Antón Arriaga Sierra from Mexico is standing in the foyer of Grieghallen with his parents. His mother, Dolores Sierra Johnson, says there was never any doubt: They were going to Bergen to see their son receive his NHH diploma.
“It is a very special day for us. We have travelled all the way from Mexico, and now we are here with him. He has made a great effort. He is fantastic,” she says.
Then she pauses for a moment.
“I am so proud.”
For Sierra himself, the day is full of emotions. Two years have passed since he came to Bergen as an international master’s student.
“It feels like I arrived here yesterday. Standing here now is quite surreal, but very nice. I have really enjoyed my time in Bergen. It is a little bittersweet that it is over,” he says.
Life on campus at NHH
On the stage, the NHH diploma was waiting. Before the candidates were called up one by one, Rector Helge Thorbjørnsen used his speech to highlight what many of them were now saying goodbye to: campus life, the community and everything they have learned outside the classroom.
“The vibrant campus environment you have contributed to is an important arena for learning everything machines can never replace: communicating, negotiating and showing empathy,” said the rector.
Thorbjørnsen also pointed to the uncertainty facing the candidates, from artificial intelligence and the labour market to political unrest and the climate crisis, but stressed that he remains optimistic on their behalf.
“I hope you face what comes next with curiosity, an open mind and humility, but also with confidence that you can do great things. Because you can,” said Thorbjørnsen.
“My closest friends”
For many of the candidates, it is not just a degree that is coming to an end. It is five years of reading rooms, the student association, new friendships and a life in Bergen.
“I will miss the school and the student association. I was part of the association’s American football team, and those guys became my closest friends here,” says Sierra.
Now he is moving on to Oslo.
“The job application processes are well underway. I am optimistic.”
“I have learned an enormous amount”
Tobias Heskestad, originally from Trondheim, is also heading to Oslo. After five years in Bergen and a master’s degree in finance, he will soon start working at EY.
“It has been five exciting years. I have learned an enormous amount. I really feel that I have grown during these five years. You learn a lot in the classroom, but perhaps even more outside it. The student association has been an important part of that.”
Heskestad has also played American football. That is how he got to know his fellow student from Mexico.
“Antón has become a very good friend.”
Law graduates with an NHH master’s degree
A little further away stand Nicoline Preus Kvernberg and Marte Rimmereid, who have also shared many years as students in Bergen. They completed their master’s degree in law last year. Over the past year, they have taken NHH’s one-year master’s programme in Accounting and Auditing (MRR). And they are continuing in the same direction: Both will start working in auditing in Bergen.
“NHH is a great school and has a very good student environment,” says Rimmereid.
Nicoline Preus Kvernberg nods.
“It was a very good transition to NHH, with skilled lecturers and a strong academic environment,” she says.
Their friend Vegard Kristiansen Marøy from Sotra is also staying in Bergen, and he has no plans to leave NHH.
“Now I will start a PhD in economics,” says Marøy.
“Today is the day”
Fellow students Phillip Kvile and Gorm Nakjem are also already celebrating their master’s degree.
“It feels very good. It has been five years with a lot of studying and quite a bit of hard work, but today is the day. Now we can celebrate and enjoy ourselves with friends,” says Kvile.
Both his mother and father are in the audience.
“There will probably be a few tears during the evening. Many parents will be very proud.”
Kvile has taken a master’s degree in finance and will start at Nordea in Oslo this autumn.
“I have met so many great people at NHH. Apart from the rain, it has been very good — a lot of social life, parties and studying,” he says.
His friend Gorm is not quite leaving student life yet. After completing his master’s degree at NHH, he will start the MRR programme this autumn.
“It is very nice to have family here and the full ceremony in Grieghallen. It is also sad, because I have made many good friends and been part of a lot of fun things. But I get the pleasure of staying here for one more year. I am not complaining,” says Gorm Nakjem.
An NHH farewell
When the candidates walked onto the stage, one by one, they knew this was the last evening with the whole group together. But in Grieghallen on Friday, the main point was to mark what they had now completed.
For Antón Sierra, it was also a farewell to a place and an environment that had become much more than a place to study.
“They became my family here,” he says.