I had the opportunity to study at Lund University in Sweden on exchange for the Autumn semester of 2023. I studied for around 5 months from the middle of August to the middle of January and I had a amazing time. Before I applied to study abroad I was nervous about the whole thing, I had many questions about how it would work and what it would be like. However as soon as arrived at Lund I realised that everyone at the University was extremely helpful. There were many talks in the beginning about adapting to life in Sweden and important information about university and Student life as a whole, and I can definitely say everything was very well explained. The outgoing team at Surrey were also available to talk to at any point if I had any questions that they could answer.  

Surrey Students should make the most out of this opportunity to study abroad as It has without doubt improved my academic skills but also allowed me to make friends with many different people across the world, for example people from Australia all the way to America. Academically, although learning at Lund was slightly different to studying at surrey, I found the experience of it great. There was a lot more groupwork than I was used to but I feel this was very beneficial as it allowed me to meet and work with people from across the whole world. Which is something that you are extremely likely to have to do when you are in your working life, so being able to work with people of different cultures is a necessity. I met some great people doing this group work and same of which will be friends for life. 

The Santander Grant was extremely helpful to me as it allowed me to travel around Sweden and visit the capital Stockholm and also go to the Copenhagen, which is the capital of Denmark. I had a great time in these places and it was amazing to see these 2 great cities. The grant can also help with smaller things such as textbooks and food and other essentials. Having the grant made it a lot easier to do certain things such as the travelling so it should be something that you should definitely apply for. 

*Please note that Santander grants are no longer available to students going abroad but there are other scholarships and bursaries that students can apply for. See the Funding page for more information.