New students enjoyed Welcome Fair and social activities on campus
On 26 August, a warm and sunny late summer’s day, Stockholm University invited all new students to a Welcome Fair on the Frescati campus. It was the first major physical event of its kind for more than two years and the atmosphere as well as the attendance rate exceeded expectations.
The event, which took place in and around Aula Magna, gave new students the chance to meet university staff, current students, student unions and other associations to find out more about the student support and services offered. The Welcome Fair itself drew approximately 2,000 visitors, and social activities such as speed friending and guided tours quickly became fully booked.
Special relationship between students and professor
Emilia Plessing from Austria was one of the newcomers this day. When asked why she had chosen Stockholm University for her studies abroad, Emilia answered:
“There seems to be such a special relationship between the students and the professors. That is one of the reasons why I wanted to study here. That and the quality of the Master’s Programme in Astronomy.”
She mentioned Stockholm University’s research in black holes as something she was particularly interested in and impressed with.
Renowned for quality
One of her fellow students on the programme, Jon Judez from Slovenia, had also chosen Stockholm University as the Astronomy studies are renowned for quality.
“On this programme we will be taught in small groups and I have heard that the teachers and the students are close. Ever since I was in high school I have wanted to go abroad and study, to enjoy an international atmosphere”, Jon explained.
Rosalie Birkle from Germany was going to study the Master’s Programme in Urban and Regional Planning. Just like her newfound friends Emilia and Jon, she had been guided by the quality of the programme when choosing where to pursue her international master's studies.
“I'm really excited about everything here. The environment seems so open and nice”, she said with a broad smile.
Discovering a new culture
The French Computer Sciences master's students Emilien Marion, Hugo Ledy and Rayane Belateche were looking forward to exploring a new culture.
“It will be interesting to learn about the way of life here”, Emilien said. “If I had gone to Spain or Germany it would probably have been more similar to France.”
Discovering what the Swedish winter is like and trying out various winter sports was high on his, Hugo’s and Rayane’s agenda. The choice of studying Computer Sciences at Stockholm University was due to the good international reputation of this master's programme.
Dedicated student ambassadors
Alongside Stockholm University’s staff, a number of dedicated student ambassadors made sure that the Welcome Fair and the associated social acitvities ran as smoothly as possible and that the visitors were well looked after.
Rooma Mansoor, an ambassador and master's student in Molecular Life Sciences, supervised the highly popular Swedish fika table. The previous weekend she had also worked during the Arrival Service, another part of the welcome activities for new international students.
“I was with the Frescati campus team at Arlanda, helping the newly arrived students and answering questions about student union membership, how to get a one-time code and all that”, she explained. “There were a lot of students arriving from lots of different countries: Japan, Canada, Germany… I recognise many of them here at the fair today.”
A chance to have fun and feel welcome
According to Rooma, the Welcome Fair and all the social activities present a good opportunity for the new students to meet each other, have some fun and feel welcome before their studies begin and everything becomes a bit more formal. She knows what she’s talking about as she is herself a master’s student from Pakistan and made the same journey a couple of years ago. In a few months’ time she will finish the Master’s Programme in Molecular Life Sciences and embark on another academic adventure in Sweden: PhD studies at Uppsala University.
“The system here is pretty impressive. It is all very flexible; while studying a master’s programme at Stockholm University I am allowed to do projects at Karolinska Institutet simultaneously. In my country the system is different.”
The Welcome Activities at Stockholm University are designed to assist new students and introduce them to university life in Stockholm and Sweden. The programme is voluntary and includes Arrival Service, Orientation Day, Welcome Fair, social activities and guided tours.
The Welcome Fair is for both national and international students.
Read more at su.se/welcomeactivities. If you want to know more about welcome activites for national students you can visit our Swedish web page su.se/valkomstaktiviteter.
Last updated: September 15, 2022
Source: Student Services