Karlstad University Ingesund School of Music

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?
I grew up as an only child in a small but quaint community in the western part of Sweden. My biggest wish though was that I would have had an older brother who would have been friends with the guy I had a crush on...
Aside from my youthful crush my passion was basketball and playing the piano. The piano was my solace during my teenage years giving me a sense of peace and calmness. I loved to play the chromatic scale in various different rhythms and also performed for smaller school events. But basketball was my lifestyle! We as a team practiced, played, toured and hung together 24/7 from when we were in lower grade school until I was 20 when I felt it was time to leave my little home town and seek adventures out in the big world.

I have always loved and been driven by aesthetics, art, music and photography. In the late 80s, I attended a residential college studying painting, drawing and photography. The latter was what I really liked to do so I applied to college on the island of Gotland to immerse myself further in the art of photography. After graduation, I worked at a photographic studio and was employed there between 1990-92 but then the financial crises hit... But, no hard feelings! At 20 life is ahead of you and there are more adventures out there!

So, I packed my bags and flew to Turkey where I stayed for two summer seasons. My CV states Sales Executive Authentic Turkish Carpets! It was an amazing experience and believe it or not but it was during that time my passion to help and guide young people to take the opportunity to broaden their horizons across country boarders was awakened. The experiences you learn when living, working or studying in another country and meeting people from other cultures are experiences not gained from home and will benefit you in life forever.

All my adventures in the end brought me here, where I am now. Back in a small village on the country side with my partner and our two teenage girls, where in stark contrast (or as a compliment) to what I do at at Ingesund School of Music we have a cattle farm of approximately 50 animals.

WHAT IS YOUR PATH TO THE CURRENT POSITION?
I started my employment at Ingesund School of Music (MHI) in 1986 working in the music library. But as mentioned, I went adventuring for a couple of years but came back to Arvika in 1994. The principle at that time at MHI gave me a call as he needed some temporary help at the reception which lasted for four years before I was off for some more adventure. 2000 I came back to MHI and I have been there at my current position since then.

My main responsibility is in supporting different activities to promote  concerts, from creating all the layouts and printings of posters, local and regional advertisements,  programs as well as other practical activities needed to ensure our students and our school succeed in their concerts. In addition to that I work closely with the communications department at the university to ensure our webpage is maintained and up to date on the latest as well as working with our international network of exchanges for both students and teachers.

WHAT IS YOUR PASSION IN YOUR JOB?
The best part of what I do is all the interaction I have with people. All our wonderful students with their passion for what they are do and ambition for the future. I meet them every day in many different situations and try to guide and support them through their journey – it can be anything such as:

*I need to do a poster but don’t know how...
*I want to apply for an exchange but don’t know where...
*Do I need to print the form for signing?
*How do I know which courses I should apply…

When you follow a student in her/his journey throughout their education with us, no matter whether it is as an exchange student or the nervousness just before the final examination concert and you meet that student afterwards, smiling and with a bigger self-confidence - then I know that I have succeeded in my mission and that is what gives me my reward and the positive energy to go on.

I love my job!!