Rektors dimissionstale 2022

(in English below)

Krigere uden våben!

Kære studenter,

Verden er vaad og lys – Himlen er tung af Væde.

Hjertet er tungt af Lykke, lykkeligt nær ved at græde

 

Sådan er det i dag. Det er lige dele lykke og vemod – det er et af de øjeblikke, hvor livet går op i en højere enhed. I personificerer følelsen. Den følelse er årgang 2022 på Nyborg Gymnasium.

I er et fuldstændigt fantastisk syn med huer i alle farverne. I gør mig lykkelig langt ind i sjælen, for lige præcis det at stå her er livets mening for mig. Jeg er så stolt af jer, jeg er så vild med jer, og jeg kan ikke overskue, når I kører afsted på lastbiler om to timer. Jeg ville så gerne adoptere jer alle 381 dejlige mennesker og få jer til at blive, men så får jeg nok bøvl med jeres familier i salen – og nogle af jer ville nok hellere have tre år i isolation i et lukket fængsel end at blive lige nu. For det er også livets mening for jer at komme videre, og sådan skal dét selvfølgelig være! Men jeg savner jer allerede – det gør vi alle her på skolen. Jeres lærere og skolens øvrige ansatte står rundt omkring, og de har knoklet og kæmpet for at lave den bedste og kærligste skole for jer – det er sket på trods i lange perioder. Jeg synes, vi skal starte med at give de ansatte en hånd for deres knokleri.

Men er der nogen, der har knoklet for at være her, så er det jer. I har kæmpet, I har været dybt fortvivlede, I har været jubelglade, og I har leveret så hårdt arbejde – fagligt, socialt og menneskeligt – for at sidde her som de smukkeste studenter i universet. Ja, der har været svære og umulige tider undervejs. Ja, der er blevet trukket alt for store veksler på jer. Og der skulle virkelig kæmpes for at bevare gejsten og glæden og komme helt i mål i de svære år, vi har været igennem sammen. Og så er I ubetinget den årgang, der har fået flest beskeder, ord, retningslinjer, regler og bullshit fra mig – at I har stået det ud lige til kvalmegrænsen, det er i sig selv en bedrift. Men I gjorde det! I kom helt i mål. I er mine yndlingsmennesker, og mit hjerte er tungt af lige dele lykke og vemod – og det tror jeg også jeres er – måske ikke nu, men det kommer!

I er mit håb for fremtiden og et menneskeliggjort vidnesbyrd om, at alt ikke var bedre i de gode gamle dage. Det er total bullshit fra røvsyge kynikere i museumsmontrer. Alt er nemlig bedre nu, for nu skal I ud og ændre verden. I er en helt særlig årgang – en helt særlig epoke – for I har taget ansvar, været forbilleder og ikke kun beskuet jeres egen navle. I er grunden til, at vi på Nyborg gymnasium tror på, at forandringer starter hos os selv, og at det er vigtigt at gå forrest med nye tanker, engagere sig i samfundet, udvise personligt mod og kæmpe for noget, der er større end os selv.  I er grunden til, at vi tror på det bedste i mennesker. I er grunden til, at skolen har fået et menneskesyn at pejle efter. I har nemlig hævet blikket og involveret jer i stort og småt – men I kæmper også mod jer selv – og det at kæmpe, at stå i mod, stå fast og gøre modstand er det, jeg vil tale til jer om. Jeg vil tale til jer om russiske krigsskibe og krigere uden våben i mine sidste ord til jer.

Og jeg vil starte lige på og hårdt med en nu berømt radiodialog og meningsudveksling mellem det enorme russisk krigsskib, Moskva og 13 heltemodige ukrainske soldater på en lille ø, som på engelsk hedder Snake Island, d. 24. februar 2022:

This is a Russian warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed. Snake Island, this is a Russian warship. I repeat. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender. Otherwise, you will be bombed. Do you copy?

Svaret kom prompte: Russian warship, go fuck yourself!

Den geniale, heltemodige og efterhånden verdensberømte ordveksling indkapsler det, jeg vil tale om i dag. Nemlig om det at være modig og gøre modstand mod alle odds! Om det at kæmpe for en større sag, også selvom det virker håbløst og kan koste det mest dyrebare. Om det at kæmpe mod meningsløs krig, verdens og samfundets uret, men også mod indre dæmoner i livet. Om at gøre nederlaget til sejr.

I jeres tid på Nyborg Gymnasium har vist, at I kan tage kampen på mange fronter og I inkarnerer både modet og modstanden. Så mit håb er, at I vil gå ud og sige: Russian warship, go fuck yourself! til mange ting i verden og i livet. For I skal ikke leve med uretten hverken i den store eller lille verden, I skal gøre modstand. I skal være krigere uden våben.

Det er der brug for, for verden har ændret sig i den tid, I har gået på Nyborg Gymnasium, og Nyborg Gymnasium har også ændret sig. Jeres tid på skolen har desværre været præget af en pandemi, men også af tragiske verdenshistoriske begivenheder i Afghanistan og Ukraine. D. 24. februar tror jeg, vi alle husker, da russiske tropper overskred grænsen til Ukraine og indledte en voldsom og meningsløs krig og altudslettende bombardementer – også af civile mål. Det var og er tragisk verdenshistorie. Vi var og er vidner til en livetransmitteret krig og humanitær katastrofe, og vi får alle sammen et stik i hjertet, når vi ser billeder af massakrer i Butja eller hører fantastiske præsident Zelenskij fortælle om, hvor mange børn der nu er dræbt af russiske kugler.

Både de mentale og politiske tektoniske plader har virkelig rykket sig i Europa og i verden siden 24. februar. Europa står mere samlet end nogensinde. Sverige og Finland kommer med i Nato, og Ukrainske styrker har måske stoppet Putins brutale krigsmaskine. Ingen havde i deres vildeste fantasi forestillet sig det, der er sket. Verden er forandret, og vi har gennemlevet verdenshistoriske tider sammen gennem de sidste par år. Men I har ikke bare set passivt til – mange af jer har involveret jer, kæmpet og gjort modstand.

Modstanden er vigtig – også mod mig, mod skolen, mod systemet, mod politikerne, mod krigen og mod alt hvad der kan være uretfærdigt eller uigennemtænkt. At skabe er at gøre modstand. At gøre modstand er at skabe, som den berømte franske modstandsmand fra 2. verdenskrig, Stephane Hessel har formuleret det. Det er så sandt, og jeg ser jer som fremtidens modstandsbevægelse – som krigere uden våben – der nu går ud og skaber forandringer. I skal ikke sprænge jernbaner eller tyske bunkers i stumper og stykker, men I skal bortsprænge ligegyldigheden og involvere jer i verden.  Det har I gjort på Nyborg Gymnasium, og det skal I gøre resten af livet.  Det er er nemlig ikke bødlen, dødens riffelgange, hadet eller torturen, der gør os bange, men den nådesløse verdens blinde ligegyldighed, som digteren og modstandsmanden, Halfdan Rasmussen, så smukt har formuleret det.

Ligegyldighed og ”laden stå til” er nemlig den største trussel i vor tid – ikke russiske tanks eller ekstreme mørkemænd fra Afghanistan. Det handler om, at vi ikke må vende det blinde øje til det, der foregår i verden, i Danmark eller i Nyborg. At vi skal kæmpe og gøre modstand mod den blinde ligegyldighed i den store og lille verden. For vi lever altså i et trygt og ret fantastisk samfund, hvor få har for meget og færre for lidt. Men vi bruger megen vågen tid på at brokke os over alt det, der ikke fungerer, over manglen på varmepumper, stigende benzin- og fødevarepriser og alt det, som vi mener, vi har krav på i det her ret generøse og trygge velfærdssamfund. Vi kan alle gøre en forskel, for vil man have magt over sin tilværelse, så må man gøre noget selv. Som nyligt afdøde chefredaktør på Weekendavisen, Anne Knudsen klogt har skrevet, så kan man passivt klage over sit liv, verdens gang og de urimelige forhindringer, der lægges i vejen af strukturer og indre dæmoner, men et helt og selvstændigt menneske bliver man kun, hvis man tager ansvaret selv og kæmper imod. At man gør noget selv og ikke kun ser handlekraft streamet i fiktioner på Netflix, Viaplay eller HBO.

I 1944 skrev modstandsmanden Poul Sørensen et digt, som rammer lige ned i netop det. Det hedder Til hver enkelt, og det lyder sådan her:

Der er en Front, som går Europa rundt,

Og der er Kampen blodig, vild og haard.

Vi Danske passer Dagens jævn dont;

Men husk, at ikke bare Drab og Saar

og Skud og Staal er Tegnet på en front!

Der er en Front i Danmark nu. Den gaar just her – just her hvor du staar.

 

Digtet er skrevet i en tid, hvor Danmark var besat af tyske soldater, og hvor unge modstandsfolk blev skudt ved daggry i Ryvangen eller tortureret til døde på Dagmarhus. Han appellerede til alle danskere om at gøre modstand i det små og i det store. At det ikke bare var allierede tropper, der skulle vinde krigen for os alle på slagmarkerne. At vi alle har et ansvar for at gøre noget, der hvor vi står. Det digt rammer os i maven. Fronten går derhjemme, i skolen, på arbejdet og over alt i samfundet – ikke kun på slagmarker i Ukraine, Afghanistan eller Syrien. Vi har alle et ansvar, og der er brug for, at vi som de 13 modige ukrainske soldater istemmer: Russian warship, go fuck yourself og hæver blikket fra dagens jævne dont.

Og det har I gjort, som ingen anden årgang på den her skole. I har sat skolen på Danmarkskortet, fordi I har hævet blikket utallige gange og kastet jer ud i at gøre det gode for andre – uden det skulle på CV´et og uden anden grund, end at I ville hjælpe. Det er altruisme, og det er faktisk sjældent i dag.

Allerede i sidste skoleår gjorde mange af jer modstand mod Ayas skæbne. Mange af jer rejste jer, gjorde modstand, skrev rørende debatindlæg for Aya og demonstrerede på Christiansborg Slotsplads – og andre steder i Danmark. I var de bedste kammerater i verden. I var krigere uden våben og gjorde modstand mod det fuldstændigt hjerteskærende og meningsløse i at sende en ung kvinde på et udrejsecenter på ubestemt tid. En ung kvinde som hellere vil dø i Danmark end vende tilbage til forfølgelse og tortur i Syrien.

Det var virkelig en dramatisk og hæslig tid med al for megen uvished og angst, som jeg personligt aldrig er kommet mig over. Men det var også en smuk tid, fordi kampen nyttede og viste et fantastisk sammenhold på den her ufatteligt dejlige og rummelige skole.  Vi genoplevede alle forløbet til fællesarrangementet for knap to måneder siden, hvor vi så filmen ”Sending Aya back”. Det gik lige i kroppen og maven, og der har aldrig været så stille og eftertænksomt til noget arrangement på den her skole. Flere andre elever rejste sig op og delte deres egne livshistorier, tvivl og frygt i deres personlige kamp for at få lov til at blive i Danmark.  Jeg har det som om, vi alle kom tættere på hinanden, og at det var et vigtigt touchpoint for vores skolekultur. Den her skole er nemlig unik og fuldstændig fantastisk – og selvom det er gammeldags at tale om solidaritet og frisind, så emmede salen af solidaritet, frisind, kammeratskab og en oprigtig tolerance og forståelse for andre mennesker med en anden baggrund end den mange har. Derfor giver det så meget mening, at der i skolens nye formulering af vores menneskesyn står, at vi tror på, at mennesker vokser og beriges i mødet med andre mennesker, kulturer, fællesskaber, fagligheder og uddannelser, og at vi vil hinanden det bedste. I har vist det hver dag – og også når det virkelig gælder. Det var ren Russian warship, go fuck yourself til den måde samfundet desværre behandler elever med flygtningebaggrund. Men I gjorde nederlag til sejr. Tak for det!

I gør ikke kun modstand, når det handler om klassekammerater. I gør det også for udsatte i hele verden. Derfor har jeg den smukkeste og vigtigste pokal stående på mit kontor, hvor der står, at Nyborg Gymnasium er årets Røde Kors skole 2021. I efteråret mobiliserede vores fantastiske Røde Kors-ambassadører mange af jer, som deltog i Landsindsamlingen. Det gav genlyd i mange af landets medier, fordi Nyborg Gymnasium samlede et rekordstort beløb ind og havde rekordmange elever med – det var ikke set før på nogen skole i landet.  Den søndag glemmer jeg aldrig, fordi Food Camp blev omdannet til Røde Kors-hovedkvarter og var propfuld med jer elever, som kom ind for at gøre det gode – og noget der var større end os selv. I gjorde det igen til Juleindsamlingen, hvor der blev lavet alle mulige aktiviteter, og Nyborg Gymnasiums elever sprængte igen rammerne for det mulige.

Og så kom den tragiske 24. februar og Putins invasion af Ukraine. Også her markerede I elever, at der er vigtigere ting end dagens jævne dont, lektierne, sport og fritidsjobbet. Fronten gik just, hvor I stod.  Jeg har aldrig glemt, hvor mange af jer der skrev til mig og ønskede at gøre noget for Ukraine, for flygtninge og for børnene, der fik smadret livet. Jeg vil aldrig i mit liv glemme, da 1316 elever stod med ukrainske flag og holdt ét minuts stilhed for ofrene i Ukraine. Jeg vil aldrig i mit liv glemme, da repræsentanter for vores Røde Kors-ambassadører holdt en rørende tale for jer alle sammen. Jeg vil aldrig i mit liv glemme da 1316 elever sang “Kringsatt af fiender” sammen. Det er en af de stunder, jeg vil huske, til jeg dør. Det var formålet med alt det, jeg laver, og grunden til vi holder skole på Nyborg Gymnasium.

Til alle jer alle sammen vil jeg sige: I gjorde, og I gør Nyborg Gymnasium og hele Danmark ære. I var de første til at gøre modstand mod den nådesløse verdens blinde ligegyldighed. Og hvis I lover at bære noget af det med jer ud i verden – uanset hvor I kommer frem – vil det glæde mig så inderligt og gøre alle os, der bliver tilbage, så stolte. I har vist At skabe er at gøre modstand og at gøre modstand er at skabe.

Og lige her vil jeg stoppe op og lave en særmeddelelse. Normalt ville jeg aldrig gøre det her, men jeg er nødt til at nævne og hylde to helt særlige elever, som nogle af jer ved, har kæmpet og oplevet livets alvor på en måde, som ingen af os andre nogensinde kommer til. To elever, som har gennemgået helvede på jord, som har gjort hårdnakket modstand og kæmpet for deres families tilværelse. For livet. Kampen lykkedes, og derfor sidder Roda og Ruwayda Abdisalan Hussein fra 3.d nede i salen med huer på som studenter fra Nyborg Gymnasium. Deres far, mor og søskende sidder her også. Lige præcis det har jeg drømt om gennem fire år – siden Roda og Ruwayda gik i 10.klasse. I lange perioder og år mistede vi alle troen på, at denne her dag ville komme. Men nu sidder I her, og det er det vigtigste og mest meningsfulde, der nogensinde er sket i mit liv – både som rektor og som menneske. Vi har gennemlevet den værste og bedste tid sammen, og jeg vil aldrig glemme jer – I vil altid være i mit hjerte. Giv Roda og Ruwayda og hele familien Abdisalan Hussein en hånd! Tak.

Alle de krøllede, kaotiske og fantastiske ting vi har været igennem sammen handler om dannelse. Det er et evigt omdiskuteret ord, som alle har en holdning til, og som ofte bliver fluekneppet og diskuteret af nidkære akademikere med trang til høj lix. Men her på skolen er det mere jordnært. Den berømte filosof og tænker, Hannah Arendt, har meget enkelt og smukt formuleret, hvad dannelse er, og hvad det at holde skole og undervise går ud på. Hun siger det sådan her: Al undervisning går ud på at få eleverne til at elske verden i en sådan grad, at de også vil tage ansvar for den. I min optik er det den smukkeste og mest rigtige definition af dannelse, jeg nogensinde har læst. Og det er virkelig Nyborg Gymnasiums mål med jer! Dannelse handler nemlig ikke kun om forløsning i åndernes rige og faglige mål, men om at udvikle en almen menneskelighed, at vokse og få et stadig bredere udsyn og at agere etisk, værdigt og med næstekærlighed. Dannelse handler om at udvikle sin humanitet, livsduelighed og menneskelighed i fællesskaber – og om at finde sin plads og elske den forbandede verden. For hvis skolen og vi alle bare lader som ingenting, så bliver kampen mod den nådesløse verdens blinde ligegyldighed, og for menneskerettigheder, næstekærlighed, tolerance og etik bare skåltaleord fra en skindød akademisk bekendtgørelse – eller noget man ser i fjernsynet. De begreber skal kunne udleves i praksis og mærkes på egen krop – og det har I gjort.

I er fantastiske – alle I 381 smukke studenter- og lige nu føler I jer udødelige, og I kan mærke indeni, at I skal ud og fuldføre noget stort. At det er jeres bestemmelse. Men skyggerne er børn af lyset, og derfor vil jeg nævne et sted, hvor jeg virkelig savner jeres modstand og kamp. For jeg ved desværre, at tiden her på skolen har været hård for mange af jer. I har kæmpet mod Corona, angst, diagnoser og frygten for ikke at slå til eller være gode nok. Mange af jer har også taget et kæmpe skridt alene ved at gennemføre en uddannelse. Også et betydelig større skridt, vil jeg påstå, end mange af de studenter, som kommer fra mere privilegerede enklaver i det her samfund, hvor stort set alle unge uden at tænke nærmere over det går videre i gymnasiet.

Men de fleste af jer har indre dæmoner og en ond abe siddende på skulderen, som hvisker jer i øret hver dag. Den onde abe hvisker, at I er dumme, at I ikke er gode nok, at I er grimme, at alle har et meget bedre liv og flere venner end jer. I bruger alt for meget energi på at skjule, hvordan I virkelig har det og leve op til nogle helt urealistiske krav til livet. Og I taler ikke meget med hinanden om det – I piner jer selv og forstår ikke, at jeres liv ikke er så perfekt som de andres. I har alt for mange negative tanker om jer selv, og I føler jer ensomme.

Da jeg startede som gymnasieelev på Randers Statsskole i 1996, citerede vi kækt og studentikost sociologen Thomas Ziehe i samfundsfag, der skrev om livet og skolen, som øer af intensitet i et hav af rutine. Men det er i 2022 blevet til øer af rutine i et frådende hav af intensitet. I vælter nemlig rundt, er på de sociale medier 24-7, I har en kalender, der er vildere end statsministeriets departementschef, og I er bange for det tomme rum, for stilheden, eftertænksomheden og for at kede jer. I er overophedede, I vil toppræstere, I vil have de bedste karakterer, være sammen med vennerne, have den perfekte kæreste og det perfekte job ved siden af skolen.  I vil have det perfekte liv hele tiden og tror desværre, at alle de andre har det. Som Rektor på Metropol Stefan Hermann rammende skriver om tidsånden: Midten, gennemsnittet er forsvundet og fortrængt af vindere og tabere, verdensklasse over for skod. Karaktererne 4 og 7 på den nuværende karakterskala opleves i dag af unge mennesker som det totale nederlag, som eksklusion af fællesskaber.

Omfavn nu de 4-taller og 7-taller og tag det nu for fanden roligt. Livet er nemlig på det jævne rigtig meget – der er meget lort og lidt lagkage – og det er hverdagen, der fylder. Den skal I nyde, lære at kede jer og være glade for middelmådigheden. Det er den, vi alle lever det meste af livet i.  I er handlingsmennesker og krigere uden våben på så mange parametre, men lige her fejler I sgu. Så jeg vil virkelig opfordre jer til at gøre middelmådigheden til kongen i livet – og i overført betydning råbe Russian warship, go fuck yourself til de indre dæmoner og urimelige krav verden stiller til jer. Gør oprør mod de tendenser og menneskeskabte strukturer, der gør jer til konkurrencestatens kanonføde. I skal ikke finde jer i det! Og tal nu for fanden ærligt med hinanden om, hvordan I har det. Løft jeres blikke, kig på hinanden. I er ikke perfekte, og det er ikke tabu. Det er livet.

Jeg er dog også fortrøstningsfuld for jer, for jeg har læst i skolens nye Skoleblad ”Skiven”. Ja, jeg vidste jo faktisk ikke at skive var et dæknavn for snus. Så tak for lort – til mine kære venner i redaktionen. Men i det skoleblad skriver en klog anonym skribent nogle viise ord om behovet for nogle gange at tage lidt let på tingene. Jeg ved den pågældende elev var og er meget bange for at give sig til kende, fordi hans artikel handler om – og nu citerer jeg den håbefulde og åndfulde student: Hvordan man skater gennem gymnasiet og trækker 12-taller ud af røven. Der er Cavling-pris-potentiale her, for man kan godt overføre hans pointer til livet som sådan. Han slutter nemlig sin blasfemiske artikel sådan her: (..) Der er jo ingen grund til at gøre livet sværere for nogen – heller ikke sig selv. Så lev nu livet lidt lettere, og spring over hvor gærdet er lavest, for en klog person har aldrig sprunget over, hvor gærdet var højest for at nå sit mål. Det er så godt skrevet – Simon fra 3c! Jeg skal nok eskortere dig ud bagefter og ringe efter din moar.

Tag Simons ord til jer og spring nogle gange over, hvor gærdet er lavest, ift. til de urimelige krav og forventninger I og vi stiller til jer selv og til livet. Vær middelmådige og gør modstand mod de opskruede livsidealer. Livet er op og ned. Nogle gange gør det naller, andre gange er det en fest, men det meste af tiden er det bare et satans liv. Som Steffen Brandt så smukt og melankolsk skriver det:

Jeg tænkte nå men det så livet
Sådan ser det altså ud
Lidt krøllet sammen, bidt og gennemblødt
Og helt almindeligt

Der er nogen chancer som man selv kan ta
Og flytte rundt med hvis man synes
Lidt op og ned, du ved man klarer sig
åh gud hvor åndssvagt

Kys det nu, det satans liv
Og grib det, fang det
Før det er forbi

Den skal I høre nu – og Emil Nielsen, som dimitterede i 2018 synger og Anders Aaboe spiller til.

Tak til Jeppe. Det er en smuk og også melankolsk sang, og den siger noget om, at hvis man vil have magt over sin tilværelse, må man forstå og omfavne, at livet også er lidt sammenbidt og gennemblødt. Grib det og fang det, før det er forbi. Det ved jeg, I vil gøre!

Inden jeg nok skal tie stille, så vil jeg slutte af med at vende tilbage til de første linjer jeg sagde i min tale:  Verden er vaad og lys – Himlen er tung Væde. Hjertet er tungt af Lykke, lykkeligt nær ved at græde. Hvad betyder det, og hvad er det egentligt den sære og meget talende rektormand siger, tænker I nok? Jo, jeg læser de ord som en hyldest til livet og glæden, der bobler i maven. Til lyse nætter og sorgløshed. Men samtidig ligger vemodet lige under overfladen i himlen, der er tung af væde. Det er sådan lykken er.

Ordene, som er så smukke, tidløse og rammende, er skrevet af en ung modstandsmand, Morten Nielsen, som blev dræbt som 22-årig i 1944 under besættelsen. Han satte ord på besættelsens og modstandskampens stemninger, på kærligheden, på lykken og på døden i den illegale digtsamling ”Krigere uden våben”. Det gjorde han, mens hans kammerater døde omkring ham i kampen mod GESTAPO og besættelsesmagten. Han var grundlæggende en antimilitaristisk kriger, for som han skrev så smukt: Handling er ikke had – ikke det vilde sekund hvor man splitter et hjerte ad. Han sagde nødtvunget ja til geværet i krigens stund, men vidste også, at alt er tabt den dag, man begynder at tro på geværet.

Nu kan det godt være, I rynker på næsen og tænker, det er så pinligt rektoragtigt. Men vi vil så gerne give jer alle sammen Morten Nielsens samlede digte som studentergave. Jeg ved godt, at mange nok ikke lige læser i samlingen de næste uger, men lov mig at gemme bogen og tag den frem, når sommerens vildskab går på hæld eller om 1, 2, 3, 10 eller 20 år. Litteratur kan noget særligt. I kan spejle jer i den og finde svar på, hvad det vil sige at være menneske. Bøger kan underholde, udfordre og udvide jeres forståelse for andre mennesker og verden – de kan også være røvsyge, hvis man ikke fatter eller kan mærke, det der står. Morten Nielsens digte er min og vores hyldest til jer, for de siger så meget om jer og til jer. Om jeres modstandskamp, idealisme og befriende fandenivoldskhed. I må aldrig tro på geværet, men I skal tro på jer selv noget mere. Og så skal I fortsætte den kamp for en bedre verden, som I har startet her og sige Russian warship, Go fuck yourself til de uretfærdige og urimelige ting i livet og i samfundet. I skal være krigere uden våben – og I skal fortsætte med at tro på det bedste I mennesker. Det er på grund af jer, at vi tror på det! Det er på grund af jer, vi tror på fremtiden.

Med de ord vil jeg dimittere årgang 2022 fra Nyborg Gymnasium.

 

Warriors without weapons!

Dear students,

The world is wet and bright – The heavens are heavy with rain.

The heart is heavy with joy, almost about to cry.

 

That’s what it is like today. Equal parts happiness and sadness – this is one of those moments where all aspects of life come together. You personify this feeling. This feeling is the class of 2022 at Nyborg Gymnasium.

You are an absolutely amazing sight with your caps in all colours. This makes me happy deep in my soul, as standing here is the meaning of life for me. I am so proud of you, I am so crazy about you, and I don’t know how I will cope when you ride off on the trucks in two hours. I would love to adopt all of you 381 wonderful people and make you stay, but I imagine your families here would object – and some of you would probably rather serve three years in isolation in a high-security prison than be staying here. After all, life is also about moving forwards, and of course this is how it should be! But I miss you already – we all do, here at the school. Your teachers and the other employees here at the school are gathered around you here and they have worked and fought hard to create the best and most caring school possible for you – despite the long periods where we faced difficult circumstances. I think we should start by giving the staff a hand for all of their hard work.

But if anyone has worked hard to be here, it is you, the students. You have fought hard, and you have also been in despair, you have been ecstatically happy, and you have worked really hard – both academically, socially and at the personal level – so that you can sit here as the most beautiful students in the universe. Yes, there have been tough times and impossible situations along the way. Yes, we have asked far too much of you. And we have really had to fight hard to keep our spirits high and get everything done in the tough years we have been through together. And then you are also by far the graduating class that has received the most messages, words, guidelines, rules and bullshit from me – and you have endured this even though it might have been way too much, and that in itself is an accomplishment. But you did it! You made it through it all. You are my favourite people, and my heart is heavy with equal measures of joy and sadness – and I think maybe yours are too – perhaps not right now, but it will come!

You are my hope for the future and a human testimony that demonstrates that everything wasn’t better in the ‘good old days’. Thinking that everything was better in the old days is bullshit, usually uttered by boring cynics in museum displays. In fact, everything is better now, because now you are going to go out and change the world. You are a very special graduating class – in a very special era – because you have taken responsibility, been role models and not just been engaged in navel-gazing. You are the reason why we here at Nyborg Gymnasium believe that change begins with ourselves and that it is important to be a trailblazer with new ideas, to engage with society, display personal courage and fight for something that is greater than ourselves. You are the reason why we believe in the best in human beings. You are the reason why the school has established a view of human beings to guide us. You have looked up and gotten involved in everything – but you are also fighting against yourselves – and this struggle, this ability to resist, stand firm and fight back is what I want to talk to you about. I want to talk to you about Russian warships and warriors without weapons in my remaining words to you.

And I will start with a famous radio exchange and a difference of opinion between the enormous Russian warship, the Moskva, and 13 heroic Ukrainian soldiers garrisoned on a small island called Snake Island which took place on the 24th of February 2022:

This is a Russian warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed. Snake Island, this is a Russian warship. I repeat. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender. Otherwise, you will be bombed. Do you copy?

The response from the Ukrainian garrison was quick and to the point: Russian warship, go fuck yourself!

This brilliant, heroic and by now world-famous exchange encapsulates what I would like to talk about today. I am talking about courage and resisting against all odds! About fighting for a cause greater than ourselves, even if it seems hopeless and can cost you everything. I am talking about fighting against senseless wars and the injustices in our world and society, but I am also talking about fighting our inner demons as we go through life. About turning defeats into victories.

In your time here at Nyborg Gymnasium, you have shown that you can take up the fight on many fronts and you are the incarnation of both courage and resistance. So, my hope is that you will go out and say: Russian warship, go fuck yourself! to a lot of things in the world and in your life. Because you should not live with injustice whether it is on a large or small scale – you must resist. You need to be warriors without weapons.

There is a need for that, and the world has changed since you first came to Nyborg Gymnasium and Nyborg Gymnasium has also changed. Your time here at the school has unfortunately been heavily impacted by a pandemic and also tragic historic events in Afghanistan and Ukraine. On the 24th of February, I think we all remember when Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine and began a violent and senseless war and began wreaking havoc with bombardments, also against civilian targets. It was and is a tragic moment in world history. We were and are witnesses to a war and humanitarian disaster that is being live streamed, and all of our hearts ache when we see images from massacres in Butja or listen to the amazing President Zelensky report on how many children have now been killed by Russian bullets.

Both the mental and political tectonic plates have really shifted in Europe and the world since the 24th of February. Europe is more united than ever. Sweden and Finland might be joining NATO, and the Ukrainian forces may have stopped Putin’s brutal war machine. No one would in their wildest dreams have imagined what has happened. The world is changed, and we have lived through historic events together these last few years. But you have not just been passive bystanders – many of you have gotten involved, fought and resisted.

Resistance is important – also when it is resistance against me, the school, the system, the politicians, the war, and whatever else might be unjust or short sighted. To create is to resist. To resist is to create. This how of the famous World War 2 French resistance fighter Stephane Hassel formulated it. It is so true, and I see you as the resistance fighters of the future – as warriors without weapons – who will now go out and create change. You will not be blowing up railways or German bunkers, but you will be blowing up indifference and getting involved in the affairs of the world.  You have done so at Nyborg Gymnasium, and you will be doing so for the rest of your lives.  After all, it is not the executioner, the possibility of our own death, hatred or torture that make us afraid, it is the ruthless world’s blind indifference that make us afraid, as the poet and resistance fighter Halfdan Rasmussen put it so beautifully.

Indifference and “letting things be” is the greatest threat of our time – not Russian tanks or extremists from Afghanistan. We cannot turn a blind eye to what is going on in the world, in Denmark or in Nyborg. We need to fight against and resist the blind indifference on all levels, large and small. After all, we live in a safe and amazing society where few have too much and fewer too little. But we use a lot of our waking hours complaining about all the things that don’t work, about the lack of heat pumps, rising fuel and food prices, and about all the things we believe we are entitled to in our quite generous and safe welfare state. We can all make a difference, because if you want to take control of your own circumstances, you need to take action yourself. As the recently deceased chief editor of Weekendavisen, Anne Knudsen, wisely pointed out, you can passively complain about your life, world events and the unfair obstacles in the form of structures and inner demons, but you only become a whole and independent individual if you take responsibility yourself and fight for what is right. It requires taking personal action, and not just seeing people in action on Netflix, Viaplay or HBO.

In 1944, the resistance fighter Poul Sørensen wrote a poem that hits the nail on the head in this context. It is called, To each individual, and it goes like this:

There is a front through in Europe,

And there the battle is bloody, savage and hard.

We Danes go about our daily work;

But remember that it is not only killing and wounds

and bullets and steel that make a front!

There is a front in Denmark now. It is right here – just where you stand.

The poem was written during a time when Denmark was occupied by German soldiers and when young resistance fighters were shot at dawn in Ryvangen or tortured to death in Dagmarhus. He appealed to all Danes to resist on all levels. He was saying that it wasn’t just allied troops that were going to win the war for us on all the battlefields. He was saying we have a responsibility for doing something where we are standing. That poem hits to the core of it. The front is at home, at school, at work and everywhere in society – not just on the battlefields of Ukraine, Afghanistan or Syria. We all have a responsibility, and there is a need for us to be like those 13 brave Ukrainian soldiers who said: Russian warship, go fuck yourself, and to think about more than just our daily routine.

And you have done that more than any other graduating class from this school. You have put the school on the map of Denmark because you have stood up countless times and thrown yourselves into doing good for others – without the motive of putting it on your CVs, but just because you wanted to help. This is altruism, and it is actually quite rare these days.

Already in the previous school year, many of you took action to resist the fate of Aya. Many of you stood up, fought back, wrote moving opinion pieces for Aya and demonstrated in front of the Danish Parliament – and elsewhere in Denmark. You have been the best classmates ever. You were warriors without weapons, and you fought against the completely heartbreaking and meaningless notion of sending a young woman to an deportation centre indefinitely. This was a young woman who would rather die in Denmark than return to persecution and torture in Syria.

It was a really dramatic and horrible time with far too much uncertainty and anxiety that I personally have never recovered from. But it was also a beautiful time, because the struggle paid off and showed what an amazing community we have in this insanely wonderful and tolerant school.  We all relived the experience about two months ago when we saw the movie “Sending Aya Back”. It really hit home, and no event at this school has ever been so quiet and thoughtful. Many other students stood up and shared their own life stories and their doubts and fears in their personal struggle to be allowed to remain in Denmark.  I feel like we all got closer to each other and that it was an important touchpoint for our school culture. This school really is unique and just amazing – and even though it is old fashioned to talk about solidarity and liberalism, the hall was oozing with solidarity, liberalism, comradeship and a sincere tolerance and understanding for other people with minority backgrounds. Therefore, it makes so much sense that the school’s new formulation of our vision is ‘We believe that humans grow and are enriched when meeting other people, cultures, communities, professions and academic backgrounds and we want what is best for each other.’ You have demonstrated this every day – also when it really matters. You displayed a real Russian warship, go fuck yourself attitude in response to how our society unfortunately treats students with a refugee background. But you turned a defeat into a victory. Thank you for that!

You are not only resisting when it comes to your classmates, you are also doing it when it comes to vulnerable people throughout the world. Therefore, I have the most beautiful and meaningful trophy on display in my office – the one that was given to Nyborg Gymnasium as the Red Cross school of 2021. In the fall, our amazing Red Cross ambassadors mobilised many of you who took part in the country-wide collection effort. This was picked up by many national media because Nyborg Gymnasium collected a record-high amount and a record-high number of students participated – no other school in the country had seen that before.  I will never forget that Sunday, because Food Camp was turned into a Red Cross HQ and was packed full of you students who came in to do something good – and be part of something greater than ourselves. You did it again with the Christmas collection, where all sorts of activities were done and Nyborg Gymnasium’s students once again blew through the frameworks of what was believed to be possible.

And then there was the tragedy on the 24th of February when Putin invaded Ukraine. Once again, here you students also showed that there are more important things than our day to day lives, homework, sports and the student job. The front was right where you were standing.  I have never forgotten how many of you wrote to me and expressed a desire to do something for Ukraine, for refugees and for the children whose lives were turned upside down. I will never forget the time when 1316 students stood with Ukrainian flags and held a moment of silence for the victims in Ukraine. I will never forget when representatives for our Red Cross ambassadors held a moving speech for all of you. I will never forget when 1,316 students sang “Kringsatt af fiender” together. That was a moment I will remember for the rest of my life. This was the purpose of everything that I do and the reason why we run a school at Nyborg Gymnasium.

Finally, to all of you, I would like to say: You have made us proud and continue to make us proud and you honour Nyborg Gymnasium and all of Denmark. You were the first to fight against the ruthless world’s blind indifference. And if you promise to take some of that with you as you venture out into the world – regardless of where you end up – it will make me so incredibly happy and make all of us who are remaining here very proud. You have demonstrated that To create is to resist and to resist is to create.

And here I would just like to pause and make a special statement. Normally I would never do this, but I need to mention and celebrate two very special students that some of you know have struggled and experienced life’s hardship in a way that none of us ever will. These are two students who have been through hell on Earth and who have offered stiff resistance and fought for the family’s circumstances. For life. The fight was won, and therefore Roda and Ruwayda Abdisalan Hussein from 3.d are now sitting here in the hall with their student caps from Nyborg Gymnasium. Their father, mother and siblings are also here. This is exactly what I have been dreaming of for four years – ever since Roda and Ruwayda were in the 10th grade. For long periods and years we all lost faith in this day ever materialising. But now you are here, and it is the most important and most meaningful thing that has ever happened in my life – both as a principal and a human being. We have gone through the worst of times and the best of times together, and I will never forget you – you will always have a place in my heart. Let us give Roda and Ruwayda and the whole Abdisalan Hussein family a hand! Thank you.

All of the crumbled, chaotic and amazing things we have been through is about personal development. Personal development is a much-discussed topic that everyone has an opinion on, and which is often analysed to death and discussed by zealous academics with a fondness for overly complicated language. But here at this school, it is more down to Earth. The famous philosopher and thinker, Hannah Arendt, has simply and beautifully formulated what personal development is and what schooling and education is all about. She puts it like this: All teaching is aimed at making the students love the world to such an extent that they also want to take responsibility for it. In my view, this is the most beautiful and correct definition of personal development that I have ever come across. And that is really what Nyborg Gymnasium wants to achieve with you! Personal development is not just about immersing oneself in philosophical and academic things, it is about developing oneself as a human being, to grow and get a broader perspective and to act in an ethical and worthy manner with love for those around us. Personal development is about becoming a better human being, to become more capable at life and to show humanity as part of a community – and it is about finding your place and loving this damn world. Because if the school and everyone else just pretends like nothing is going on, then the fight against the ruthless world’s blind indifference and the fight for human rights, love, tolerance and ethics just become words spoken at toasts taken from a lifeless academic theory – or something that you watch on TV. These concepts must be lived in practice and felt on your own body – and you have done this.

You are amazing – all of you 381 beautiful graduates – and right now you feel immortal, and you can feel deep inside yourselves that you are going out to do great things. That this is your destiny. But shadows are children of light, and therefore I want to mention one area where I really miss your resistance and fight. Because unfortunately, I know that your time here at the school has been tough for many of you. You have struggled against corona, anxiety, diagnoses and the fear of being unable to get things done or the fear or not being good enough. Many of you have also taken a giant step simply by completing a study programme. And it is a much bigger step, I would argue, than it is for many of the students who come from more privileged enclaves in this society where virtually every young person takes an upper secondary level education without a second thought.

But most of you have your inner demons and an evil monkey sitting on your shoulder whispering in your ear every day. The evil monkey whispers that you are stupid, you are not good enough, you are ugly and that everyone else has a much better life and more friends than you do. You waste far too much energy hiding how you really feel, trying to live up to some completely unrealistic demands for life. And you do not talk to each other about it – you torment yourselves and do not understand why your lives aren’t as perfect as others. You have far too many negative thoughts about yourselves, and you feel lonely.

When I started as a student at Randers Statsskole in 1996, we boldly quoted the sociologist Thomas Ziehe in our social studies class who wrote about life and the school as islands of intensity in a sea of routine. However, in 2022, this has turned into islands of routine in a raging sea of intensity. You are spinning about, you are on social media 24/7, your schedule is more packed than the Prime Minister’s Office department head, and you are afraid of emptiness, silence, thoughtfulness and of being bored. You are supercharged, you want peak performance, you want the best grades, you want to spend time with your friends, have the perfect boyfriend or girlfriend and the perfect student job as well.  You want the perfect life all of the time, and unfortunately, you believe that everyone else has it. Metropol’s Principal Stefan Hermann accurately writes about the current zeitgeist: The middle, the average, has disappeared and been displaced by winners and losers – world class versus garbage. Getting a 4 and 7 on the current grading scale is today perceived by young people as an abject failure, as being excluded from communities.

Embrace those 4 and 7 marks and take it easy, damn it. Life is, after all, average a lot of the time – there is a lot of shit and sometimes you get some cake – and it is your everyday life that matters. You need to enjoy that, learn how to deal with being bored and be happy about mediocrity. That is the state we all spend the most time in.  You are action-oriented people and warrior without weapons on so many levels, but when it comes to this specifically, you are failing. So I would really encourage you to embrace mediocrity – and, in that spirit, shout Russian warship, go fuck yourself to the inner demons and unreasonable demands the world places on you. Rebel against the trends and man-made structures that make you the cannon fodder of our competition state. Don’t accept it! And damn it, be honest when you talk to each other about how you feel. Raise your eyes, look at each other. You are not perfect, and that’s not taboo. That’s life.

I am hopeful you can achieve this, because I’ve been reading the school’s new newspaper, “Skiven”. Yes, and I didn’t actually know that skive was a cover name for snuff tobacco. So, dear friends on the editorial board, thanks for that headache. But in that school newspaper, a wise anonymous columnist wrote some wise words about the need to take things easy once in a while. I know the student in question was and is afraid of being exposed, because his article is about – and here I will quote this hopeful and witty student: How to skate through upper secondary school and pull 12-marks out of your ass. There is some real potential for a Cavling Prize here, because you can actually transfer his arguments to life in general. He concludes his blasphemous article as follows: There is no reason to make life harder for anyone – or yourself. So lighten up a little and jump over the fence where it is lowest, since a wise person has never jumped over a fence where it was highest to get to where he or she needed to go. Well written – Simon from 3c! Don’t worry, I’ll escort you out afterwards and then call your mother.

But embrace Simon’s words and sometimes just jump over the fence where it is lowest when it comes to the unreasonable requirements and expectations that both you and we have for yourselves and your lives. Be mediocre and resist the over-the-top life ideals. Life is about ups and downs. Sometimes it stings, other times it’s a party, but most of the time, it’s just a damn life. As Steffen Brandt put it both in a beautiful and melancholy way (translated into English):

I thought well, that’s life
That’s how it is
A bit crumpled up, bitten off and soaked
And completely ordinary

Some chances you can take yourself
And you can move around if you like
A bit up, a bit down, you know you’ll get by
Oh God, how stupid

Just kiss it, this damn life
And seize it, capture it
Before it is over

You will be hearing that now – and Jeppe from 2r will be singing and Anders Aaboe will play.

Thanks, Jeppe. It is a beautiful and also melancholy song, and it says that if you want to be in control of your life, you need to understand and embrace the fact that life is also a bit tangled up and soaked. Seize it and catch it before it is over. And I know you will!

I’m almost done, so I would like to conclude by returning to the first words I spoke:  The world is wet and bright – The heavens are heavy with rain. The heart is heavy with joy, almost about to cry. What does it mean, and what is it that this strange and extremely talkative principal is actually talking about, you may wonder? Well, I read those words as a tribute to life and the joy that you can feel like butterflies in your stomach. It is about bright nights and being carefree. But at the same time, sadness is just under the surface of the sky, which is heavy with rain. And that is what happiness is.

The words, which are so beautiful, timeless and spot on, were written by a young resistance fighter, Morten Nielsen, who at the age of 22 was killed in 1944 during the occupation of Denmark. He wrote about the sentiments of the occupation and the resistance movement,  about love, happiness and death in the illegal collection of poems called “Warriors without weapons”. He did that while his comrades were dying around him fighting the Gestapo and the occupiers. He was basically an anti-militaristic warrior, because as he so beautifully expressed it: Action is not hatred – it is not the wild second where you split a heart apart. He reluctantly took up the gun in a time of war, but he also knew that everything was lost the day that you start believing in the gun.

Now it may be that you are frowning and thinking, that is typical of a principal to say something like that. But we would love to give you all Morten Nielsen’s collection of poems as a graduation gift. I know many of you won’t be reading it any time soon, but promise me that you’ll save the book and take a look at it again once you are done partying for the summer or even in 1, 2, 3, 10 or 20 years. Literature is something special. You can see yourself in it and find answers to what it means to be a human being. Books can entertain, challenge and expand your understanding of other people and the world around you – they can also be boring as hell if you do not understand or resonate with what is written. Morten Nielsen’s poems are my and our tribute to you, because they say so much about you and to you. About your resistance struggles, idealism and liberating devil-may-care attitude. You must never believe in the gun, but you must believe in yourselves and something greater. And then you have to continue to fight for a better world, a fight that you have started here, and then say Russian warship, go fuck yourself to the unfair and unjust things in life and society. You need to be warriors without weapons – and you need to continue to believe in the best in human beings. It is because of you that we believe in it! It is because of you that we believe in the future.

And with those words, I would like to graduate the class of 2022 from Nyborg Gymnasium.