Welcome to Aberdeen: I’ve moved back to Scotland for my master’s degree

When I finished my bachelor’s degree in early 2020, I never imagined that I would spend the following three years gallivanting around the world and working on excavations on Lolland and Falster – and even living on the Isle of Skye, Scotland’s second-largest island, for a while. I wanted to take some time off, but I felt sure I’d begin my master’s within a year. Then Covid happened. Sure, I could’ve still gone back to university, but there’s nothing I resent less than online studies. I’m definitely an in-person lecture kind of girl! And especially because my dream was to study in Scotland, I didn’t want to be stuck inside for a whole year while living in one of the world’s most beautiful countries. Well, Covid came and disappeared again (at least in Denmark), but by then, I’d moved to Lolland and started working at the best museum in the world (not exaggerating here). So I waited until now to return to university – three years after finishing my BA!

I had one dream university and that was the University of Aberdeen – and that’s because they’re the only university in the world to offer a Master of Science in Archaeology of the North which perfectly combines my two favourite things: archaeology and the north. So I took a leap of faith, applied with no plan B and luckily got in!

Why Archaeology of the North?

That’s a great question!

As I mentioned above, this programme combines my love of archaeology and my love of the north. But the decision to study Archaeology of the North has been a long time coming.

When I first began studying archaeology in 2016, I was hooked on the Mesolithic (more specifically the Late Ertebølle period of southern Scandinavia, ca. 4800-4000 BC – yes, super specific!). In fact, I was so hooked that I wrote my thesis on the absence of burials during this period, and I was convinced that I wanted to study a Master’s in Mesolithic archaeology. But during the years away from university, I realized that my passion for northern archaeology was just as strong, undoubtedly caused by my love for travel in this region of the world. I first came into contact with northern archaeology when I spent two semesters in Greenland where I studied the history of Greenland, volunteered at the National Museum of Greenland and did an internship at Ammassalik Museum. I’ve always found it fascinating how different groups of people have managed to adapt and thrive in the unforgiving landscapes of the north, and since northern archaeology doesn’t exclude the Mesolithic period, Archaeology of the North felt like the better choice for me. I’m really excited to broaden my knowledge on the archaeology of this intriguing part of the world!

Preparing for my move

I actually took the first steps towards my move to Aberdeen in late 2021 when I applied for my UK passport (I have my British mum and Danish dad to thank for the uncomplicated dual citizenship!). My new passport arrived a few days into the new year, and on June 25th, I finally sent my application to the university.

I received the decisive email with my acceptance to the university in September while enjoying a hot chocolate in a café in the Faroe Islands – and then I immediately starting planning and preparing. There was lots for me to do. Mainly, I had to collect money, and lots of it, because studying in Scotland is not cheap! I wrote application after application and sent them out to all the foundations I could find that would support archaeology students and/or students going abroad. I’m thankful that I’ve received the full amount that I needed to cover all of my expenses (including 44,300 DKK from the Danish State Educational Grant). I owe a debt of gratitude to the following foundations that have supported me with grants between 15,000 DKK and 50,000 DKK:

• William Demant Fonden
• Knud Højgaards Fond
• Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond
• Ib Henriksens Fond
• Augustinus Fonden
• Nordea Fonden
• Elisabeth Munksgaard Fonden
• Aberdeen Global Scholarship
  

If you also dream of studying abroad and can’t afford the high prices (or your home country has high study fees), I can recommend applying for as many scholarships as possible. You’d be surprised how many foundations out there will help students realize their dreams!

Apart from the application writing which took up most of my autumn when I wasn’t out digging or adventuring, I also spent a while figuring out what to pack, mending clothes and finally packing it all into two suitcases and a backpack. Thankfully, I had a month-long Christmas holiday between my last work day and my move to Aberdeen so I had plenty of time for all of that while also spending some valuable time with my family, friends and kittie before the big move.

Moving to Aberdeen

January 13th 2023 was the day when I hugged my family goodbye and set off for the airport to fly to my new home city via Heathrow. I had to wait there for ten hours during the night, so I arrived in Aberdeen early the following morning. A taxi took me to my student accommodation in the northern part of the city, and I spent the day settling into my cozy little room (after a long nap, of course!). I was really lucky to be offered a room in a house full of other students surrounded by other student houses – we’re basically our own little village within Aberdeen! My room is the perfect size with just the right amount of storage for (all) my stuff. And I’m on the third floor, so I have a view (not the greatest, but hey it’s still a view!). The only thing I want to complain about is the colour of my curtains and door which are… the ugliest shade of purple imaginable!

The next day, I set out to explore a bit of Aberdeen, and then the ‘Welcome Week’ began. That week was a blur of lots of new faces, the beginning of new friendships, trying to navigate the city, falling and hurting my knee on my first run (still haven’t fully recovered…), walking lots in my beautiful neighbourhood (the oldest bridge in Scotland is literally my neighbour!), attending events and parties at the university and just settling into my new life. I also read lots of articles for my first lecture and completed my first course, an induction course that took me through everything I need to know about studying at the University of Aberdeen.

So when Monday the 23rd rolled around and I had my first lecture, I felt well-prepared and ready to take on the challenges of this whole new lifestyle.

Settling into life in Aberdeen

So far, I’m really enjoying my life in Aberdeen. I have a new, healthy routine of waking up at 7 AM every morning and going for an hour-long walk before beginning my day – for a night owl like me that’s quite the challenge but I can feel that it’s good for me. I’m well into my studies, I’ve hung out with some nice people already and even discovered the local pub that the archaeologists hang out in, and I’ve joined five university socieities that do fun extra-curricular activities; a climbing club, a hiking club, a Nordic society, an archaeology society and even a Taylor Swift club (the folklore/evermore era had me hooked and I can no longer even pretend to be able to escape).

I’ve spent lots of time researching Aberdeen and the surrounding area, and I can’t wait to start my explorations of this part of Scotland! I’m going to try to get all of my studies done during the weekdays so I can spend the weekends out and about. Either way, I’m sure my time in Aberdeen in going to be a wonderful adventure and I can’t wait to see how it will unfold!