I am the youngest in my family, and while I may claim to be the coolest, my inspiration comes from my older siblings (especially my sister). My older sister Rose studied abroad in college and I got to see her adventures and learn about her travels through photos, videos, and very sweetly written postcards. When it was my turn to go to college, she vibrantly promoted studying abroad and encouraged me to take advantage of the global opportunities available to university students.
I followed my sister’s advice and studied abroad in Sweden over the summer B term with 22 other UW students. The program titled “Honors Sweden: Justice in the Nordic Region” is through the UW Seattle Scandinavian Studies department. I am not part of the Honors College, nor am I a Scandinavian Studies student but I was able to participate in this interdisciplinary program geared towards thinking critically about how justice operates in the Nordic region, who justice works for, and how that is rooted in history.
Getting Ready to Travel:
Since I did not have any prior travel experience, the anticipation of traveling and navigating international airports by myself was somewhat terrifying. I like to believe that I have a can-do attitude, but for the most part in the weeks leading up to my departure, I was anxiously preparing to panic (while also being excited of course). Making my way from Seattle to Stockholm was certainly a journey with a delayed flight and a missed connection in all. I made it though! And it wasn’t so bad. Signs and airline agents are your friends.
My Time in Sweden:
It’s somewhat difficult to relay all that happened in my experience abroad in a summative way, so I will move chronologically.
Arriving in Stockholm was extremely exciting. Though I had been up for roughly 24 hours traveling, I had a rush of energy once I had finally made it to the hostel I would be living in for the next month. The week that followed was equally exciting, I got to know the other students on the program and we eased into exploring Stockholm and beginning our coursework.
Naturally, the excitement leveled out a bit in week two and our academic work picked up. Our weeks were generally structured so that we would have class in the morning and then we would go to learn from a guest speaker or lecturer.
By the third week, many of us began feeling homesick, myself included. Our professors described the probable path of our moods as an M-shaped curve. Usually, when people go abroad for extended periods of time their energy and mood start very high and excited, and they experience a bit of a decline. There were a lot of challenges that came up for me that I didn’t anticipate, and I was feeling less excited about being in Sweden and more excited about the program ending.
By the fourth week, I was able to find support and solidarity within the group of students that I was traveling with and I felt really positive about how our professors took into account the takeaways and reflections from the experiences we were having both academically and personally. By this time I was beginning to reach the second peak of the M-shaped curve. I was excited about being abroad again, new ways of thinking began to click, and I wanted it all to continue. I was relieved that I felt excited about traveling again but sad that I was feeling this way just as the program was ending.
Coming Home:
Being home has honestly been quite weird. My experience abroad feels like a blip in time, it went by so rapidly and there is still so much I can reflect on from it. I would be lying if I told you that my experience abroad was entirely positive, but I wouldn’t change anything that happened. I think that the value of the perspective I’ve gained outweighs the discomfort endured. My identity and the lens that I see the world through was challenged, and the tension that this caused is what expanded my thinking. I understand why my sister wanted so badly for me to study abroad. No matter how challenging it might seem or be there is so much to this experience that has permanence in its value. I’m grateful to have my sister who pushes me, for the group of students that I traveled with, and for the faculty that facilitated the program. I hope that other study-abroad students can be pushed and supported in similar ways, and allow for that discomfort.
