Similar but different: Trine student Grace Larson enjoying semester in Sweden

Grace Larson learned about study abroad through befriending exchange students in high school, but she initially hesitated when considering such an experience for herself.

“You're having to travel thousands of miles away and leave your life behind, but I knew that undergrad would be the only time I could pause my life here in the States long enough to do something like this while still staying on track to graduate,” she said.

“I had to see the world before it was too late.”

Larson, a Trine University psychology major from Alto, Michigan, is studying in Stockholm, Sweden, this semester. She arrived in January and will be in the country until May.

‘Out of my comfort zone’

Larson said she chose Sweden because “I could be out of my comfort zone but not be in too deep water.”

“Sweden is very similar in many ways to life back home, so I still have some similar comforts versus if I had gone to a completely different country that has a different lifestyle,” she said.

She had stayed in Stockholm once before but said she still felt some anxiety and doubt during her flight there to study abroad.

“Upon arrival, it turned to excitement and just relief to be here and a desire to get settled in,” she said.

She is taking a full-time load of five courses at a college in downtown Stockholm in order to complete her degree on time.

“A typical day is I wake up and prepare for my classes, which last until early afternoon,” she said. “From there, I go out and go for runs or long walks around the city to get movement in, but also to get out and explore my home.”

“On weekends, I travel throughout the greater Stockholm area to see new neighborhoods and boroughs. I live day-to-day like a typical local at this point, as I did many of the touristy adventures when I was here prior. The weather has been warmer, so I've even been ferrying to different islands to study on beaches or parks, since everything is relatively easy to get to.”

Reconnecting

Her favorite memories have included reconnecting with family members who live in Stockholm as well as on the other coast in a small village outside of Gothenburg.

“It's meant so much to meet these once-strangers and see how things could've been in another life,” she commented.

She is looking forward to upcoming trips with her study abroad program to cities in Lithuania that played a role in World War II, as well as other locations in Europe.

“Later on, I'll be traveling with a class to Madrid to see firsthand how clinical psychology looks on a greater scale in varying countries,” she said.

“Overall, this has been an amazing experience,” she commented. “The chance to see the world for a longer term than just a week is worth it, and to have an education taught from the eyes of someone who lives outside of our little bubble is worth more than the cost.”