"I have really enjoyed this exchange. I chose Norway because I heard a lot of good things about education here, and I liked the organisation of everything because what I needed to do felt clearly structured," says Timea.
Timea is a bachlor's student in psychology, studying at Matej Bel University (UMB) in Slovakia. For her third year, she has spent the autumn semester at the University of Inland Norway (INN). Out of the six campuses at INN, she ended up in beautiful Lillehammer.
"I was amazed when I saw that I had my own private room in the student dorms. In Slovakia, dorms are usually these panel houses where at least two or three students share one room and sometimes they share a bathroom with the next room as well. So that has been really nice," she explains, and continues with a smile:
"And, the buses, they were always on time. That was something that I did not expect because the buses are always late in my country. And the trains. But then as the snow started to fall, they started being late. So then it felt like home."
During her time in Lillehammer, Timea made many friends throught the fresher's week at the beginning of the year. There are also many activities for exchange students and on campus in general throughout the semester, so there is always something to do.
"One of the best moments I had here in Norway was seeing the northern lights, which was my dream before even going on exchange. I was going out with friends, and it was a couple of us in the middle of the road, in complete darkness. And then we were just staring up at the sky at the beautiful colours."
Timea saw the northern lights in Lillehammer, and it was one of the best moments of her exchange.
When going on a trip to Oslo, the students went around the fjord on a boat.
Every October, there is a Halloween party for the international students at campus.
Through fresher's week and many student activities, it is easy to make friends when studying at INN.
Timea (on the right) and a friend on a night out.
When visiting Hamar, only 45 minutes from Lillehammer, it is beautiful to visit Lake Mjøsa.
When it comes to university life, Timea was surprised by the exam format in Norway. In Slovakia, it is normal to write exams by hand in a short amount of time, and the questions are very specific. Here, the exams are written on laptops and usually last several hours, and the questions are open and encourage critical thinking and discussion.
"At university back home, we have to address our professors in a professional way. And it can be hard to get a hold of some of them, because they are quite busy. Here, it's more casual and open, and you can even address the professors by their first name," Timea explains.
When asked about the most challenging parts of her exchange at INN, she says the following:
"For me. it was handling the stress in the beginning when we, like, three exams in three weeks. It all turned out ok, though. The finances were also a bit tight because it's more expensive here."
All in all, Timea is really happy about her stay in Lillehammer and with the psychology courses she has taken.
Read more:
- Study options at INN
- Campus Lillehammer
- Inland School of Business and Social Sciences
- Our European university alliance: EMERGE