I’m Karolina Saxerbo Sjoberg and I live in Glasgow, Scotland. Commercial field archaeologist since 2016 with a Master’s in archaeology and experience as a museum pedagogue. Dreams of broadening peoples’ minds through archaeology and history, as well as getting a golden retriever and a cottage with a garden.
As a girl, I became interested in mythology and ancient religions, and the history of the Celts in Britain – which led me to study archaeology and move to Britain to pursue a career in British archaeology. This has taken me on a great adventure, and while living in first Wales and now in Scotland I have been able to pursue my passion for learning about the human past, while trying my hand at horse riding, kayaking, mountain climbing and star gazing.
I have also volunteered with the RSPCA and am a freelance volunteer seamstress for the charity Shelter, and love being able to give back through activities I also enjoy. I love living in a country with such a rich history and varied landscape, and having the opportunity to build any kind of life I want, by working hard and believing in myself.
My dream job would be as a curator or conservator in a British museum, which would make it possible for me to enable people to connect with the human past, and for them to learn of all the amazing things we have achieved, the challenges we have faced and come through, all the things that connects all the cultures around the world – in essence, promote a sense of identity based on interconnectivity, equality and respect.
My favourite museum so far is the Musée de la Vie romantique in Paris, which I visited in 2019. I have visited numerous museums around Europe, but I have come to prefer small and intimate museums like this one, because they are often very specialised and gives people the opportunity to immense themselves in one part of history. I find that I learn and connect much better with this type of museum than very large ones. Very specialised museums also often have the possibility to display collections of things that might be considered fairly ordinary – but gives the visitor a much better sense of the real everyday life of people of the past.
One of the biggest issues I know to face girls around me, I think are the stigmas surrounding mental health issues. In a society where girls have to work harder than men to pursue their dreams, while still not being equally rewarded for their efforts – and also balance this with the cultural norms surrounding girlhood and later womanhood of providing emotional support and care for those around them, it is imperative to promote mental wellbeing and the importance of maintaining it.
-Karolina Saxerbo Sjoberg
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.