Well…the past two months have flown by. I have enjoyed my time in Sweden, and don’t want to leave. It has truly been an experience like none other.

These past two months have really been a period of growth and self development. From my time in the office, to the time I spent outside of the office, it has been an experience to remember. It was certainly not always easy, but then again, it was not supposed be and nothing ever will be.

I would like to thank both my host company as well as the city of Stockholm, and Absolute Internship for being both welcoming and super accommodating. All three made me feel at home in a new city and never left me on my own.

I would definitely describe them as challenging. It really took me a few weeks for everything to fall into place. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, the office felt quite lonely at times. Due to the remote nature of the company and my supervisors taking leave for vacation and personal time, I frequently found myself alone in the office, sometimes, being the only one in the building. These days were a time of reflection and hard work, both on my internship as well as myself. I felt like I already knew this going into my internship, but I really learned that the professional world can be rather dim at times. Having said that, being alone really allowed me to dive into my work and focus to the best of my ability, Yes, at times it was easy to get distracted due to the lack of supervision, but that’s where the self accountability and responsibility had to kick in. Often times I had to reevaluate my situation and remember why it was I was there to remain goal oriented.

As far as professional development goes, many of the things I had to do helped me further develop preexisting skills that I had acquired through various other academic roles and my previous internship. However, a new skill and potential point of interest that I developed at my internship happens to be podcasting or on air personality. During my time at Homer, I filmed various different “podcasts” and snippets to be used for advertising purposes. I consider myself a very personable and talkative person, but holy cow, once you are in front of a camera, the entire dynamic of a conversation feels like it changes and feels super fabricated. With that said, I really enjoyed planning out each filming session and editing the content that came from them. It is definitely something that I would consider pursuing given the opportunity.

Another huge part of my time in Stockholm that I am truly grateful for, is the people I met. Going into the experience, I did not expect to leave the program with new and life long friends. But I was mistaken. Within the first week groups and cliques had been formed amongst people in the program. I was pleased to find myself getting along with a group of ten or so really solid guys. We went on trips to various different islands and cities together and crafted too many inside jokes to count. It truly saddens me to leave them all but I am grateful for the digital age we are living in and that communication has never been easier. Many if not most of them go to school in Tennessee and we are already planning a trip for everyone to meet up down there for a football game and more.

I am so grateful for the past two months. I had no idea what to expect going into it but my time in Stockholm was truly one for the books. The city felt so unfamiliar at first but quickly became a second home. Swedes get a bad wrap as far as being open and welcoming go, but I found that to be the complete opposite. I am super blessed to have been greeted with open arms by so many different people both inside and out of the office. One day, I hope to return to Sweden not only as a tourist, but perhaps to reside there for an extended period of time.

Thank you Sweden, you’ve been kind.