Sveri-yeaaahh: an exchange student in Uppsala

Exchange application essay

I just found this from July 1st, 2010. It’s weird to think about how much has happened since I applied for exchange. I’m on the other side of the goddamn world. That’s kinda cool.

Marita Battles the Exchange Conundrum

Once upon a time there lived a young woman named Marita who lived a very happy and comfortable life, but it was not the most exciting of lives. When she reached her 21^st birthday she celebrated 21 years of living in the same country, in the same state, in the same suburb, in the same street, in the same house (15 of those years in the same bedroom). And as wonderful as those 21 years had been, she couldn’t help but feel that she was stuck and resolved that the only way to remedy this slump was change. But what sort of change? Should she move out of home? Take a semester off and visit her best friend in Europe? Change course? Or what about the option that would essentially allow opportunities in all these avenues: exchange?

Marita thought long and hard about the idea, swinging between a manic drive to escape to foreign lands to a paralysing fear of everything that could go wrong. Why would exchange be such a great help? She considered her studies. Throughout her primary and secondary schooling she had been a very hard worker, high achiever and leader, and everyone who knew her, including herself, expected she’d continue on this trajectory when she reached university to study Arts/Science. However she burnt out, found new friends and discovered the joys of a Big Night Out. Her attention to her course dwindled; lectures were regularly attended hungover, entire subjects studied the morning of an exam and when results came out all she desired were passes. In her 3^rd year, undertaking a pathology major had necessitated her pulling her head in, but her passion for learning was still yet to return. Now she found herself in the 4^th year of her course completely clueless as to what she wanted to do post-study, but she realised another solid year and a half of the same would be almost unbearable.

She often discussed this with her parents, which caused her to reflect on how totally codependent she was on them. Marita was an adult and her mother still made her lunch! (Not that she minded). She had no real plans of moving out any time soon because she had it so easy at home, but she often was mocked by her friends for lacking ambition to fly the nest. However living in a close-knit family of six could sometimes be a little suffocating; perhaps a little independence wouldn’t go astray. Thinking about the small trip she’d taken to New Zealand with friends the previous year she recalled the excitement of visiting a place she’d never been to before and the thrill of doing it without parental assistance. Imagine a whole semester of independence, but in a place like Europe! She’d be mad to not at least try.

Europe offered many diverse exchange destinations but one country in particular had captured Marita’s attention: Sweden. When she was in year 10, a girl from her class had visited the Scandinavian nation on exchange and spoke with such passion about it that she couldn’t help but be intrigued. Throughout year 11 and 12 some of Marita’s favourite bands hailed from Sweden and she began to take a greater interest in the country, and when she was accepted into the University of Melbourne she discovered she could undertake beginner’s Swedish and thought to herself, Why not? In the small class of eight or so she soon discovered she was the only person who had not been to Europe, let alone Sweden, but the manner in which her classmates discussed the country of ABBA, Ikea and egalitarianism made her decide she had to visit at some point, lest render her Swedish lessons completely frivolous (which didn’t bother her overly, as she’d had a lot of fun learning anyway). Perusing the Melbourne Global Mobility website she discovered she had two options in Sweden: Uppsala or Lund. It was at this point she discovered her greatest difficulties would lie in leaving her exchange so late. If only she’d been motivated to go earlier, as leaving it ‘til her final year left her battling all sorts of red tape and unfinished points requirements. Undaunted, Marita threw herself into the Lund and Uppsala subject catalogues, discovering all sorts of Humanities-based gems offered at Uppsala, such as “Genocide and Mass Violence in the Modern World” and “Australian Society”. It felt good to be once again excited by the prospect of studying, something that had not happened for many semesters. But at this point our fair protagonist came across her biggest obstacle: IF she wanted to graduate with psychology as her arts major and IF she also wanted to go on exchange she’d have to extend her degree by another year in order to accommodate the compulsory subjects that were apparently very difficult to find equivalents for overseas. She thought long and hard; she’d come too far to graduate without an arts major, but another two semesters (albeit only one subject in each) seemed a daunting prospect. Sweden! Was it really worth it? Yes, Marita decided, it would be. Every person she knew who’d been on exchange could not speak more highly of the experience and she knew she’d regret it for the rest of her life if she didn’t apply.

Battling through all the forms and requirements she felt her resolve occasionally wavering, but she pushed on. If she were accepted as an exchange student, she’d be off to the other side of the world. And she’d be on her own. And she’d be terrified. And she’d be so far out of her comfort zone she’d forget the meaning of the term. And she’d be meeting new people. And she’d be a long way away from her mum. But it would be a change, and after all, wasn’t that all she’d been wanting? She sealed her application, handed it in and hoped for, not necessarily a happily ever after, but at least a different ever after.