I must admit, I am writing this blog after being in Sweden for already more than two months. For many weeks after arriving in Sweden, I was grateful to put the stress behind me and enjoy this long-awaited and long sought-after experience. It was a challenging couple of years riddled with hurdles, a pandemic, and maybe the most petitions a student at UNH has ever processed (?), but I am so grateful to be writing this post from the new little city I’ve been calling home for the past two months. Welcome to my first post that summarizes the challenges I faced getting to Sweden. I apologize in advance for the whininess, but I think it’s an interesting story to document.
When I was 19 years old, I realized that it was my life goal to move permanently to Europe (i.e., establish my “base” in Europe) as soon as possible. I knew this was the case since high school, but I finally realized that I needed to make it happen ASAP my sophomore year of university. At this point, I was nearly halfway done with my bachelor’s degree and decided (in retrospect regretfully…) that the most realistic and financially feasible option would be to finish my education at UNH and plan a semester in Scandinavia or Germany. After some research, I learned that the main, if not sole, study exchange option I had as a UNH civil engineering student was Lund University (LU), as of course the universities in Germany had semester schedules that did not match up with UNH’s, and I did not want to study in the UK. Lucky for me, Sweden would have been one of my top choices.
I applied and was accepted to LU for the spring 2020 semester but soon realized that I would not be able to take the specific classes that were needed for my civil engineering degree plan. There is very little flexibility within engineering degree plans, and unfortunately, because I transferred into the civil engineering department during my sophomore year, I had even less course flexibility. Despite my disappointment, I looked forward to spending the fall semester at LU and spending the summer in Germany visiting relatives and searching for job or volunteer possibilities. Then came Corona.
After my summer travel plans in Germany were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, I held on to some hope that UNH would allow me to study at LU during the fall semester. I was accepted and had sufficient course load, but UNH rightfully did not feel comfortable allowing me to study in Sweden. Disappointed again, I felt hopeless. My lifegoal felt further and further away. The fall 2020 semester started, and again I thought about my dream all day, every day. Then came the next jab, an email stating that UNH canceled all exchanges for the spring 2021 semester, my final semester of undergrad due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Fortunately, my extremely supportive education abroad advisor, Catherine D’Auteil, informed me that I could petition UNH to allow me to spend the spring semester in Sweden, although the chances of this occurring are usually quite slim. Thus, I started my third round of applications to study at LU, completed and submitted all applications by the end of September 2020. While I was promptly accepted by LU and discovered I could take a sufficient and exciting course load at LU and that I could finish my senior projects while in Sweden, I needed to be OK’d by the International Travel Risk Review (ITRR) Committee, which appeared low probability. After two months of constantly checking my emails dozens of times a day and jumping at the sound of receiving an email, I got the email from the ITRR Committee that permitted me to go to Lund during the spring semester. To my disbelief, things were finally coming together, and I would be able to go to Sweden at the beginning of the year… as long as COVID would allow it.
Now it was time to deal with the plethora of other challenges in traveling to a foreign country during a pandemic. This may have been the most stressful time of all, considering the abundant uncertainty with frequent COVID strain mutations, boarder closures, uncertainties regarding flights, cancellations, and if I would even be allowed to enter the EU since I could not receive my residence permit until arriving in Sweden, if the Netherlands would actually let me transit their country (and their response was “you won’t know if you’re allowed to transit until you arrive at Schiphol Airport…”), finding a way to take the correct test for COVID-19 and receiving the results within the time window required by the government, among many other challenges. I could go on for several pages, but I’m sure no one wants to read a book about Garrett complaining, stressing, and rarely sleeping during the month of December 2020. In the end, I had to change my flight a couple days before departure due to a new Corona strain having been introduced in Denmark, which simply added a bit more stress, a couple hundred extra dollars, and another 10 hours of travel to the journey. I was certain this wouldn’t work out, and I am still amazed that it did. If it weren’t for the constant support from my advisors Catherine D’Auteuil and Dr. Ray Cook, I would never have the experience which I am living now. If you are reading this, I thank you with all my heart!
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