(STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN) - A Trine University student is spending the spring semester studying psychology in Stockholm, Sweden, calling the experience a chance to step outside her comfort zone while staying on track to graduate.
Grace Larson, a psychology major from Alto, Michigan, arrived in Sweden in January and will remain there through May as part of Trine's study abroad opportunities.
Larson says she chose Sweden because it offered a balance of familiar comforts and a new international experience, describing it as similar enough to life in the United States to ease the transition while still pushing her to grow.
She is taking a full-time load of five courses at a college in downtown Stockholm, with classes running through the early afternoon.
Outside class, Larson says she spends time running, walking the city, exploring neighborhoods and ferrying to nearby islands to study in parks and on beaches.
One of the most meaningful parts of the trip, she says, has been reconnecting with family members who live in Stockholm and near Gothenburg.
Larson also has upcoming program trips planned to Lithuania and Madrid, where she'll study World War II history and international approaches to clinical psychology.
She says the semester abroad has been one of the most valuable experiences of her education so far, giving her a longer, deeper look at life and learning outside the United States.