Who was/is your Role Model and why?

My lecturer when I studied journalism during my early 20s, Else-Beth Roalsø, is someone I consider a role model in many respects. Interestingly, it’s taken me several years to understand all the ways in which she left her mark. She was very knowledgeable, and quite strict, while also exhibiting a lot of care and kindness towards her students. She made us reflect on our personal values versus our professional identity and integrity – in my view an activity worth repeating once in a while. She challenged us to consider how taken-for-granted conventions, combined with an underrepresentation of women and minorities among journalists, shaped the content of the news. For graduation, she’d made us awards. She delivered them along with a personal speech during a dinner hosted at her house. As a commentary on my many and conflicting ambitions at the time, I received the Ambivalence Prize. A rather dubious honor that I still came to appreciate, because she did – of course – have a point…

In her office she kept a poster with the title from one of Bukowski’s poetry books: “The days run away like wild horses over the hills”. Those words came back to me when she passed away, too soon, in 2018. Since it’s 8 March, I recall another story which she also liked to mention. It’s about a TV recording of the International Women’s Day parade in Oslo in the mid 1970s. She is featured right in the middle of the frame, wearing a bright yellow raincoat, a blue hat, and a big smile. The national TV news channel frequently aired exactly that footage when referring to the women’s movement. Years later, in a feature interview, Roalsø was quoted saying: “By the way, I'm very happy with that feature. It shows that the feminists of the 70's were not at all like the myths depict them: angry man-haters. I actually smiled from ear to ear.” The story reminds me of another ideal for which she became a role model: hard on the issues and soft on the persons.

What advice would you give your 17-year-old self, reflecting on your personal or professional  challenges, experiences or successes?

“You don’t have to figure it out all by yourself. And also: It’s not a race”. Some young people appear to be astonishingly self-determined and confident. I was not one of them, although I put effort into projecting the illusion. A better investment would have been to seek advice or support. People are often happy to be consulted.