Elisha's Exchange to Malmö University | Sweden
Deciding to go on exchange might be a hard decision to make, with all the factors to consider, but I promise, coming home will be even harder. My exchange added a year to my degree, I studied a full load and was credited one unit at Murdoch, it was well worth it for the copious benefits that go beyond what will be recorded on my academic transcript.
Arrival could not have been easier (I was lucky enough to have a Danish friend pick me up in Copenhagen), the university organises arrival day to the finest detail. There's a team waiting at the train station in Malmo to greet you and direct you to the university, where the international team will take you through the orientation and give you all the schedules you’ll need for their equivalent of ‘O-Week”. The student housing team is also fantastic! lots of help getting from the university (where you pick up your keys on the first day) back to the housing, they'll show you the local shopping centre and which bus to take to get too and from Uni. overall a fantastic orientation process!
The student accommodation ensures there's always someone to chat with and, living with up-to 29 other people on a refurbished hospital floor, odds are there's always someone who will want to go on an adventure with you. My advice, get a bike and get one quick! Malmo is so fun to explore by bike! The city puts on a tonne of multicultural festivals and events, there is usually always a celebration of some sort going on (especially in the warmer months), take advantage of these and chat to all the stall holders, eat some great food and whatever you do, do not miss out on the midsummer celebrations, they’re intensely fun!
The city will capture your heart, in winter, the snow reflects the light coming from the cozy cafes and in summer; well, let me say that Swedish people know how to appreciate the warmer weather. If you do go in winter don’t miss going to Lilla Torg and snapping a picture with the giant lamp after some fika; I think I miss the act of fika most, the notion of intentionally take a nice little break to have a snack and a relaxing chat, during classes we’d frequently take a fika and grab a coffee.
“yeah, but what about the actual studying?!” I hear you say. well, I found the mode of study a very engaging experience; a little different to Murdoch, where you may study several units at a time, at Malmo you will study one unit at a time, usually spanning half a semester per unit. I studied four units totalling a year/two semesters, and enjoyed a variety of delivery methods, from lectures, practical and theoretical workshops to excursions within the city, visits to schools in the southern countryside, camping in the forest and a ten day skiing trip in the north of Sweden. Alongside the experiences you may have in your classes, the university offers a number of trips/activities you can do, like a cottage weekend in the Swedish countryside, party cruises and trips to Finland where you’ll ride dog sleds and see the Northern lights.
If you’re doing a sport/education related subject, I’d wholeheartedly recommend taking “Sport and Physical Education from a Swedish Perspective”. The class runs in tandem with a unit the Swedish students take so there’s a lot of interaction and opportunities to make friends.
If you take the class in the winter semester, you’ll be lucky enough to go on a ten day skiing trip in the north of Sweden (at an extremely reduced price), this was perhaps my favourite experience of my exchange, despite breaking my hand the second last day and needing surgery and several months of rehab, I still consider myself lucky because I got to experience another aspect of Sweden I might not have seen! My physiotherapist was my favourite Swedish teacher! also, the people who took the class in the summer went on a hike in Norway, so either way you get a great experience.
I was able to undertake practicums and visits to a range of schools in the city I lived in, from very ‘Swedish’ schools in the coastal countryside to inner-city schools that boast a multicultural staff/student body; I was able to explore the benefits and challenges of each while learning new skills and strategies from the range of teachers I had access to.
Going on exchange affected every domain of me as a person, academically I gained insight on how education is enacted and viewed in another culture (in a city with a range of issues not unlike those in Perth), this has developed my pedagogy and will no doubt inform my practice as I go into a classroom of my own in the future.
Personally I gained friendships and relationships that will last a lifetime, I grew in self confidence and resilience as I was faced with problems I had to solve independently. My health and well-being also improved dramatically as I took on new hobbies with the friends I made; we rode coastlines, climbed mountains and ran trails through the forest. It really has changed my outlook on where I want my career and life to go, things that come from a variety of experience and new understandings.
- Elisha studied abroad at Malmo University in Sweden
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