The Joys of Stepping into the Atrium

As students, you have doubtless experienced certain special moments after starting at SSE. From running down the red carpet during enrollment day, to meeting your best friend during intro math, or returning to physical lectures after a remote semester - these moments hold a special place in our hearts, moments to be remembered years after graduating. 

As someone who began studying at SSE in 2020, I spent less than three months attending physical lectures before the pandemic struck, resulting in months of remote studies. Aside from the boredom of spending my waking hours inside my room was the consequence of losing contact with friends I otherwise would have chatted with during lecture breaks. The school’s lockdown brought about the palpably negative social circumstances surrounding my first year at SSE. One special moment was therefore the moment I could once more step foot into the Atrium.

With this in mind, I was curious to find out what moments students will look back upon nostalgically. I asked four final-year students in the Bachelor’s and Master's programs about the moments they remember as their most cheerful at SSE. Their responses: immediately positive, memories instantly springing to mind. For some, it was no easy task to pick a favorite from the memory-bank.

One classmate (a fellow year one Covid student) remembers the liberating feeling returning to school. As in my case, the Atrium played a special role as a symbol of his three years at school:

“Without exaggeration, it was truly magical to be able to return back to having physical lectures in the Aula and seeing everyone in the Atrium again after having lost contact with some during the remote semesters. I also remember running the red carpet during the enrollment day as particularly memorable: something I will never forget.”

Another student affirms that the pandemic has indeed played a role in most graduating students’ experience, with many sharing the happy moments following the end of online studies. Returning back to SSE after remote instruction was special to her:

“My favorite memory from SSE was the first live lecture in the Aula after the online study period. That was the first time I truly saw almost the entire class of 2020 and was amazed by how many people there were still left to get to know. Ultimately, many of the people I met at that time became very good friends onwards.”

Some students found their core SSE experiences more academically tinged. Most SSE students agree that certain courses have been particularly challenging. Personally, I remember the second Data Analytics course as overwhelming with its four subcourses juggled alongside two other courses. Yet in retrospect, I remember that period positively despite the heavy load. One MSc student turned times of challenging studies into something she could turn back to with a smile on her lips: 

“I still remember that at the very beginning of the semester, the whole class struggled together with advanced Microeconomics on weekends. It was so tough and miserable at the moment but when we overcame it together and looked back at our achievements, it turned into something happy instead. Another memorable thing was to celebrate the New Year together with friends from SSE.”

Friendships created through the times of misery surrounding some periods may grow particularly strong. A second-year Master's student thinks that meeting his best friend was the most important event during his studies. Despite pulling miserable all-nighters together, they were able to laugh it all off and joke about those instances.

“Honestly, when looking back at some periods, I mostly remember stress from exam periods and hopeless programming assignments that had left me pulling all-nighters at the school. However, without my best friend, some moments would have been remarkably worse. At the end of every exam period, we have been able to look back at ourselves and laugh. Meeting my friend has been the highlight during my time at SSE.”

All of us have unique memories from our years at SSE. Looking back at those in a few years will likely evoke nostalgic episodes and impact how we tell stories from our time at SSE. I think appreciating these happy moments will help us remember these years brightly. At least for me, hours spent on Zoom lectures pale in comparison to the joy of once more stepping into the Atrium.