UQ Program: Bachelor of Laws
I was very lucky to have had the opportunity to spend my semester abroad during 2010 at Lund University in southern Sweden. My time at Lund truly exceeded all of my expectations. I experienced living in an amazing culture, I made many lifelong friends and I had many exciting travel adventures.
Lund is a great place to study. The city itself revolves largely around the university; so much of what goes on in Lund is designed specifically for the students. Lund has student organisations called ‘nations’ which organise cheap meals, pubs, nightclubs and social events and are a great place to meet other like-minded students. The city is also quite small which makes it very easy to meet other students and to travel from place to place, usually by bike!
Academically, I really enjoyed my law subjects, which mostly had an international law focus, and I found that my work load wasn’t too overwhelming so I still had plenty of time to travel during semester.
The programme for exchange students at Lund is great. We were organised into mentor groups with other exchange students and were well looked after by our mentors during the first couple of weeks while we settled in. The university also has a housing programme which means that they will attempt to find accommodation for you, eliminating the stress of having to find somewhere to live in a foreign country before you arrive.
Culturally, I really enjoyed living in Sweden. Sweden has a great cultural scene with lots of interesting art and music. I also really enjoyed learning about Scandinavian culture and politics and the development of the welfare state. We had two weeks of language classes at the start of semester and I had managed to pick up quite a bit of Swedish by the end of the semester.
Southern Sweden is also a really beautiful part of the world, with picturesque countryside, castles and lakes, and the experience of emerging from a deep winter into a proper spring is really incredible.
Geographically, living in Lund meant that I could travel around Europe very easily (Copenhagen airport is just 45 minutes away by train) but could also easily travel north to Lapland and the Arctic Circle in search of the elusive northern lights.
My advice to anyone who is considering going on exchange, at Lund or elsewhere, would be: just do it! The things people say about the amazing people you will meet and the amazing experiences you will have while on exchange really are true. My semester at Lund was one of the most significant and rewarding things I have done in my life, and I don’t regret a moment of it.