If I were to use one word to describe my college experience, typical would not be it. Coming onto Hamilton’s campus as a January admit, or colloquially a Jan, I began my introduction to my first year at college in a big city, thousands of miles away from where I expected to be. To go abroad again, after only spending four semesters on campus as a junior, was a decision I did not take lightly. As my second semester abroad comes to an end, I have no regrets about my choice to leave again.
While I was touring colleges, one of the biggest aspects I looked for was a good study abroad program. I could already picture myself, three years into college, exploring Europe and appreciating my time at my host school. Instead, fresh out of high school, I was suddenly in London, for the second time ever, moving into the Princess Elizabeth House in Highgate. There was nothing to really prepare for being 18 years old and suddenly alone in a new city, making my own meals and trying to make friends.
My Jan semester is a semester I would not give up for the world. It was the semester where I finally became comfortable with being on my own and accepting that you cannot control everything that comes your way. I learned how to adapt and how to finally be responsible for myself. I visited places I would never have dreamt of visiting at such a young age, learning how to navigate unknown places. While other kids in my grade were navigating freshman year on campus, I was navigating the Tube and the streets of London.
When I got back to campus, I knew I was going to leave again. It is not that I did not want to have as much time at Hamilton as I could, which sometimes I think I wish I had, it was that my junior abroad experience was something I had dreamed of ever since the first day I started thinking about college. To me, my Jan semester was not a real abroad experience. Even though I was away from campus, I did not know what college really was. It felt like a gap semester, where I could explore my interests in a place untouched by where I was going. I used London as a base for travel, leaving most weekends to see as much of Europe I could, not completely integrating into the culture or communities around me.
This semester has been almost the opposite of that. I decided to come to Stockholm almost a year in advance of my projected abroad semester. I remember seeing the posters for the Swedish Program pasted all over the bulletin boards of KJ and instantly knowing that was what I wanted. I knew nothing about Scandinavia or what it had to offer besides a good prison system, the movie Midsommar and long, cold, dark winter days. Now, putting all of those things together, moving to Stockholm for almost four months does not seem very enticing. But the concept of having no idea what to expect was exciting.
Stockholm superseded all of my expectations for what a study abroad semester could be. Unlike London, where I would say I studied, I feel like I can say I lived in Stockholm. Where there was the crowded and loud Tube, there was the quiet and spaced out Tunnelbana, and where there were classic scones, there were sweet kanelbulle. The city has the perfect balance of metropolitan, historical, natural and artistic influences that made it feel like home.
However, I would have to say my biggest improvement since being abroad freshman fall was how much more integrated with the city and other students I was.
While in London, we studied in a building only designated for students enrolled at the Arcadia University of Global Studies. In Stockholm, we were in the same building as all of the other Stockholm School of Economics or Handelshögskolan students. Even if we were not taking all of our classes with them, every morning or afternoon, I would walk into the main atrium and be surrounded by Scandinavians dressed in semi-casual business attire.
My Jan life gave me the stepping stones to adapt to another semester abroad fairly easily. Unlike many of my peers on the program, I knew what to expect being in a foreign city far away from home. But even with an idea of what was ahead, Stockholm made sure to surprise me. The city holds the longest public art gallery in the world with every single Tunnelbana stop richly decorated with different themes by artists in a way I had never seen before.
Studying abroad twice in Europe gave me the opportunity to enjoy one place instead of jet-setting city to city every weekend. Studying in pre-Brexit London enabled me to get brief travel out of my system and allowed me to soak in Swedish culture and livelihood to its fullest. My first two months in Sweden were spent living a quotidian Scandinavian life and eating Fika every day.
As I begin packing my bags and looking towards my senior year, this semester has given me the opportunity to see what is to come after I graduate. Though a daunting thought, studying abroad again made me appreciate the little time I have had at Hamilton. London gave me a foundation of independence, but Stockholm gave me the opportunity to experience that independence in its fullest form.
