Studying in Sweden- An American Perspective Part II

Dear readers,

GETTING CLOSE TO SPRING!!!! :-))) Finally the weather is beginning to shape up and warm up here a little. Winter doldrums seem to last forever. Over the weekend and these past days the sun has been shining and the temperatures are beginning to rise. Today it was around 47°F or about 8°C. So it's really starting to become nice around here. We still have snow, but it's melting quickly! Good thing and finally this is happening again.

This is the second blog of my series about studying in Sweden from an American perspective. Last time I discussed the weather and the environment and surroundings.

This time I will write about education, i.e. my experiences as a university student here in Sweden, my experiences and how this compares to my experiences I had at Ithaca College.

To begin with education, it's free here in Europe for Europeans. This has several impacts on the way I feel people view education here. Some students are much more relaxed about education and thus don't work as hard as in the U.S. where some (including I) worked their butts off to get every penny out of their education. By saying this, not everyone takes education lightly here. As everywhere there will be some slackers and some people that choose to put lots of effort into their school work. In general, my impression is that most students at SLU are very dedicated to their work and studies. So that's a good thing.

Second, the classes I've taken here have been pretty relaxed as opposed to some classes I've taken at Ithaca. I think there are two reasons as to why I view classes as easier here. First of all, while at Ithaca I was taking classes that I wasn't very interested in or they were really difficult (e.g. Organic Chemistry I and II, we all know about these classes). While attending Master's Level classes I feel that information comes to me easier and I have less trouble grasping it. I believe that's the case with everyone. If you're interested in a topic, I think it's more fun, easier and more gratifying to grasp as opposed to information that you're not interested in. Of course I'm not saying that all classes here are really simple. I have buddies here at SLU that are dying from all the material and homework they are assigned in their classes. So I guess it all depends on your selected courses.

Third, there is a really nice and relaxed teacher-student relationship here. There is no hierarchical structure or behaviour between professors and students. This makes the learning environment here at SLU really nice. Sometimes though I think some professors let students walk over them a little too much. I think that sometimes there needs to be a little bit more guidance or authority on the professor's side. Overall though, I've never had a problem and get along really well with my professors here at SLU. Whenever I have a question, concern or suggestion (for example ways to improve the class and teaching), most (more than 95% or professors) will listen to what you have to say. My experience is that professors here ALWAYS have time for students, provided they're not swamped with their own work. I think this is great! Lastly, I've never had a professor here that's been so obsessed with their egos that it interferes with their teaching, as opposed to some professors I've had at Ithaca.

I really feel that my professors, supervisors and PhD students that I've worked with and am currently working with now all really care about me, my work, well-being as a student and learning progress. I really love this aspect about SLU. At Ithaca I had the feeling that some professors really didn't care whether or not I understood class material or how things were going. As an explicit example, one of my professors at Ithaca almost failed me because my grandmother passed away and I had to go to Puerto Rico for the funeral. Of course I missed class and a test and a deadline for a research paper. This professor gave me so much grief and was not at all understanding; she just gave me a failing grade for everything and didn't allow me to make up the work. I honestly believe something like this would NOT happen at SLU. Professors here are extremely accommodating and fully understand if you need to miss a day for e.g. a job interview. Of course they expect you to make up missed information, but they are very understanding.

Finally, studying here is lots of fun. There are so many international students in Uppsala. There are more international students at Uppsala University than at SLU, but SLU also has its group of international students (including myself).

That's it for this blog, I know I was supposed to cover student life in this blog, but I don't want it too be overwhelmingly long. Next blog I will write about student life here in Uppsala.

So long readers and stay tuned to Julian's Blog! Look for my next blog towards the end of this week!


Julian