I Bid Farewell To Thee, Vikings
Moving to Boston and pursuing a degree in Northeastern University has already been a “study abroad” experience for me. Despite there being little culture shock, having had friends before arriving, and speaking the language… leaving home was the beginning of a long journey of personal change. Five months in Scandinavia helped me carve a clearer career path. A first-hand experience of the results of sustainable economic development, accompanied by superior advanced technologies, motivated me into realizing what I like best about my major. I am now aware that I want to have an international career overseas. I want to work with renewable energies and advocate for effective economic policies to help fight climate change. Norway’s success story inspired me to want to make similar changes in underdeveloped nations like my own. Before going on study abroad, I had loose plans of pursuing an Economics and Math Master’s Degree. Now, I declared a minor in renewable energy systems and am currently applying for a co-op research position in climate change mitigation in Chile.
I did not have major fears or apprehensions prior to studying abroad. I began the semester with an open mind while recognizing that unexpected situations might occur at any given moment. My time in Boston had taught me this lesson. However, I was still worried about my abilities to communicate with others since I could not even partially understand Norwegian. It was my first time living in a place where I could not understand what people said around me. Thankfully, I soon realized that everyone from all ages and all places spoke English. I rarely had problems expressing myself. Still, I made sure to always have Google Translator ready on my phone when doing groceries or asking for directions. I became more independent and had to resort to critical thinking to get myself out of unwanted scenarios.
During the semester, I met people from all over the world. Most of the people I was surrounded by were exchange students, too. They were mainly from other countries in Europe. We were all outsiders when it came to Norwegian culture, but I felt part of a shared identity with the exchange students. I would go far enough as to say I felt more identified with the other exchange students who saw Oslo as a new place than with students back at Northeastern, where the majority are American. I realized how small the world is by what we all had in common while becoming more sensitive to other cultures.
This might be too cliché, but I did leave a part of my heart in Oslo. It will forever be a home away from home and I already have plans to go back this summer. I made lifelong friends, have sofas I can crash in when backpacking around the world, learned to appreciate diversity more, and was taught by the some of the best professors in the area of sustainability. My advice to future participants of this program is to not think about it too much. If the classes don’t really fit into your degree audit, you’re afraid of meeting new people, money is an obstacle… find a way to make it work. Try everything in your power to go study abroad. Trust me, it will be worth it and you will make memories you will be proud of sharing years from now.
Studying abroad met all my expectations and went beyond that! I now want to take advantage of all the global opportunities Northeastern has to offer. I plan on going on another study abroad program to Iceland during Summer I, doing a global co-op in Chile during the Fall, and going on another study abroad program next year in Australia.
