Stephanie's Exchange to Lund University | Sweden
When talking
about my exchange, people often ask me “Why Sweden?” And at first it might
appear like a random choice: Australia doesn’t seem to have a lot to do with
the small Scandinavian country (other than perhaps a cheeky trip to IKEA -
which you definitely shouldn’t underestimate). But for me it had been a bit of
a dream. The very first unit I did at Murdoch had a really cool case study that
featured the University of Malmö, in the south of Sweden, all about how
sustainable this town was. I was so impressed and inspired by the
people-focussed endeavours that had been implemented there. I thought “wow, I
wanna go there and experience that for myself,” and - cut to now: it has been amazing and so
satisfying to have actually gone done and did that!
So I studied for
a couple more years, and realised I was reaching the end of my degree, and if I
wanted to study abroad now was the time! It took a bit of research before I
found I couldn’t actually study AT Malmö, but I could get pretty close and
apply to Lund Universitet (only minutes away by train!). With the help from the
wonderful people at Murdoch, and by reaching out to the incoming exchange
department at Lund, I managed to meet my landlady and get myself settled into a
lovely farmhouse a 20 minute journey from the university (avoiding an
accommodation scam).
I strongly
believe that university degrees should be more than just book work, and going
on exchange was an incredible way to bring that to reality. I got to see university
from another culture’s perspective - in fact, several other cultures’, as the
people I made friends with were international students as well and it was so
interesting to hear them compare Lund to home as well. While I had prepared a
little for Sweden, I feel like if I could have my time again I would do more. I
was fortunate enough to meet with a Swede who lived in Perth, and this was very
valuable. I also had learned a little of the language on Duolingo which
definitely came in handy because the language has rather different
pronunciation rules to English (although I think there are much better ways to
learn languages, as Duolingo doesn’t teach you the grammar). For the next time
I do something like this I intend to look for cultural and language classes, especially
with a human element.
Two of the three
units I completed were unlike anything I had previously studied, and overall
quite an adjustment. I experienced a significant learning curve in the opening
weeks of the Swedish autumn semester, and had some challenging group work that
was probably compounded by my lack of knowledge in the area. I have, however,
noticed that my ability to work in groups has improved as a result and I am
much more confident in taking on leadership roles.
It is hard to
know where to start, talking about the things I did outside of university - I
have made so many incredible memories! Perhaps a good story could be travelling
to Kiruna and Abisko in the north of Sweden with my friends (we call ourselves
Lund’s Angels, as we are a bicycle gang). Abisko has a national park, and is
famous for its displays of the Northern Lights. We had the opportunity to drive
from Kiruna to Abisko and back, do quite a bit of hiking, and even get a tour
of a working iron ore mine in Kiruna (which was interesting, especially from a
sustainability perspective). Swedish national parks are very freeing, beautiful
places, and it was incredible in winter.
I think one of my
favourite things that changed about me during my time away was I got better at
making friends and being courageous. I used to be a bit of hermit, but spending
just five months away and changing it up a little, forced me to become
comfortable outside of my comfort zone. Now that Beyond My Comfort Zone is a
place I have visited before, I feel more empowered to go and live the life that
I want to live, instead of just
dreaming about it. I feel like the world is at my fingertips, and with enough
courage, support and determination (and unfortunately, money) I can probably
get anywhere!
I am planning to
go back and visit the European members of Lund’s Angels very soon, and
hopefully one day they’ll all come and visit me too!
Being within a
few hours of the rest of Europe was an amazing and really bizarre experience
too! The opportunities to travel while on exchange are fabulous and definitely
something to take advantage of - although it can be a slight challenge to
determine how to balance uni assignments. Some highlights for me was having the
chance to spend Christmas in Hong Kong with my siblings, and then fly back to
Europe and celebrate New Years in Copenhagen with my friends who were still
there. After university was finished, one of my friends very kindly invited me
back to visit his home in Switzerland, showed me around and took me skiing! I
was terrible and don’t think I will ever live down some of the footage he got
of me - but had a great time!
- Stephanie studied abroad at Lund University in Sweden
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