---
title: "thank you friByte"
pubDate: "Dec 29 2024"
description: "The end of an era - I'll miss you friByte <3"
draft: false
---

After two and a half years, my final semester as an active member in [friByte](https://fribyte.no) is over. _Wistful_ is probably the best description of what it feels like. It has been such a fun and exciting thing to be a part of during my studentlife in Bergen, and I couldn't be without it.

For those who don't know it, friByte is a student organization with the goal of running IT operations for other student organizations in Bergen. It was established all the way back in 2002! Back when I joined in 2022, we were like 12/13 members, meeting at Diskuterbar (one of the studentpubs) one to two times a week working on projects. Now, we've reached like 31 members and have our own location/office to meet at!

It's been two and a half years filled with tons of new and exciting learning opportunities, all from learning more about Linux and servers to how to plan and lead a conference ([BOSkonf <3](https://boskonf.no)). Without friByte, this website probably wouldn't of existed! I remember being introduced to static pages, with SSGs such as Zola and Hugo, and being so proud when I set up my own website on GitHub Pages with Hugo and the PaperMod theme.

friByte also introduced me to the world of Open Source, which have become a matter close to the heart, and selfhosting! I got inspired to dive deeper into selfhosting by starting off having my very first server, which ended up being my old, beat-up Macbook Air from 2013 lol. It ran Ubuntu and I set up my first Minecraft server on it hahah. Before friByte I had barely even touched Linux, and now it's my daily OS! 

It's like [Mathias said in his blog post](https://mathiash98.github.io/posts/2024-10-11-expose-yourself-to-as-much-as-possible/), that exposing yourself to as much as possible makes you accelerate your learning and become more confident in your abilities. Within half a year, I was suddenly the leader of friByte for one semester, and after that I wanted to try out being the PR-manager. Heck, I've even lead a conference two years in a row! How cool is that?! 

From all this I've learned tons of new things, which will for sure help me more in the future as I've already been exposed to them before, and this just shows how important studentclubs are. Not only do they look good on your resume - as you've maybe gotten hands-on experience with the concepts taught in the classroom, gained a deeper understanding of teamwork, or even taken on roles with bigger responsibilites - but they expand your network by meeting cool, new and even like-minded people! Suddenly you have gotten ten new interest just by joining one (or maybe that's just me hahah).

Well on an ending note I'll quote what [Rolf (@polsevev)](https://polsevev.dev/) said on his website: **_"it's hard to quit an organization with so many dedicated and nerdy members"_**. But, as I'm not a student anymore I figured it was time to leave and try out new, exciting things. Like a friend told me when I said I'd left friByte - **_"What an end to an era."_** - and I couldn't have said it better.

To my fellow friByters and friends, thank you <3 #fribyteisluvfribyteislife