I spent most of December with my face in the Torah and books about Judaism and Zionism. Due to bad planning and a timetable too optimistic, I spent far too much time reading, which gave me too little time for the actual writing. I feared that the result would spoil my chance of getting my bachelor’s degree before the new semester began, i.e., in late January. But luckily, I was wrong. My professor gave my essay on Jewish nationalism a pass and I now have everything I need to get my Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies with specialization in Philosophy of Religion.

In 2004, when I returned to Sweden after nearly five years in the Netherlands, one of my goals was to acquire an academic degree. I have always had an interest in philosophy and religion, but in my twenties I was too restless for university studies. So when most people of my generation went to university, I did freelance work, lobbied for gay rights, and started a magazine. I don’t regret a single thing I did back then, but it nagged me that so many less knowledgeable (stupid) people had nice diplomas and got well-paid jobs.

I began my academic studies when I was 34 years old. I was among the most mature of all the mature students at the Department of Philosophy at Lund University. Things got better when I transferred to the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies; religion often becomes important to people when they get older, so the centre always host a few men and women who decided to learn more late in life.

I’m 37 now, and soon I, too, will have a diploma to frame. But I will wait a while longer before I start looking a full-time job. My next academic goal is to do my master’s degree. Until I have achieved that, I will continue to split my time between the university and my four part-time jobs. And I will keep on blogging when there is time.