USAC Sweden: Vaxjo/Kalmar - Undergraduate & Graduate Courses

I did not have the best academic experience and would recommend taking only fun classes specifically designed for exchange students, unless you are highly motivated, regardless of what your peers are doing. Other than that, my time in Sweden was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I was able to make lifelong friends, travel A LOT, and experience things in a way that is only possible during studying abroad. Vaxjo is a very clean, friendly, and convenient city, amazing for nature enthusiasts. Coming here was definitely one of the best decisions I ever made.

I would like to start with USAC was amazing in supporting me to get to Kalmar as I was the first person in my university to do it, and this caused some hiccups. Kalmar is a beautifully quiet city, with many college-age people. Walking is easy, and apartments are bafflingly cheap. The school is wonderful and right on the water, and it even has a view of a nearby castle! They have an excellent program for exchange students, and this is how I met so many friends from all over the world; not many Americans do this program and I enjoyed that. With the friends I made, we traveled Europe on a budget quite easily. I also enjoyed a solo trip to Longyearbyen, Svalbard, to see the aurora and experience polar night. I still talk to those friends I met and traveled with all these years later (I went in 2023). This was the most amazing experience of my life that I cannot fit into a comment well, but I hope this can at least help convince you to take the step.

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Växjö is a beautiful up and coming town located in the bottom half of Sweden. (A 3hour train ride to Copenhagen Denmark!) This town is not a bustling city, however there were plenty of activities and places to explore. The University, LNU, has something like sororities/fraternities, they're called student unions. The international student union offered trips to St. Petersburg Russia, Lapland Finland, and many other excursions. (You can choose which you want to do and you pay accordingly.) The University itself has two student clubs and a pub that host special holiday parties, themed parties, and general deals for students. So there's definitely things to do on the weekends. LNU also offers a program that they "friend families" which are something like exchange families but without physically living with them. Basically people from the town volunteer to show you around and give you a taste of the Swedish culture/lifestlye. This was one of my favorite parts of the program. At the beginning I had some difficulties engaging with the community and breaking out of just hanging with fellow international students. But my friend family were very engaging and invited me to all sorts of Swedish activities and I tried so much new food with them! Sweden is amazing, LNU is a great school, and Växjö itself is very charming. The program itself is great because of its affordability, but if you are a community college student arranging things yourself it can feel a little overwhelming. Things like 'how do I pay my rent' and 'what should I expect for my living accommodations" were some key information that was not abundantly clear. However, if you are organized, proactive about emailing questions/calling, and utilizing resources at LNU things work themselves out. I had such an amazing time in Sweden and met some good friends that I'm still very close with. Sweden is truly a wonderful and unique place. I would definitely recommend the Växjö Program. *I also visited the Kalmar Campus for a Halloween Party, the town felt much smaller and in general the travel time to big cities didn't feel worth it. Being close to Copenhagen meant flexibility with catching flights and general ease of travel.

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