Day: August 4, 2025

(Post and image provided by Aidan Wasilowski)

The 2025 Sustainability in Sweden study abroad officially came to an end today (June 22) as the group made their way back to Stockholm for one final night and dinner together on midsummer day before flying out. It’s a bittersweet moment after spending such a long time with once strangers. While it may be nice to have home coming up fast, it can be hard not to be caught reminiscing on the time spent with one another, wishing it wasn’t over just yet.

It is not often such a large group of people can connect in a way that’ll never be forgotten. The last group dinner made this clear, as there was a tension present that’s not often felt. With everyone used to our new normal, it was obvious the group still wanted to keep that until the very last step to the plane, yet it seemed clear to us all that goodbyes were coming whether or not preparations felt met. Each minute that passed gave that tension room to grow because it really was time to begin the journal home in our own ways.

This is what bittersweet tension is like. Every single person was clearly glad they pushed themselves in this way and made connections with the culture, location, and people around them that they’d never let go of. Even with the relief home brings, it’s clear we will all miss this new normal we created together.

From each and every one of us, Thank you Tara, Molly, and Lisa for a wonderful experience.

What a perfect month it was.

Blog provided by Ash Florian, Image by Tara Bal

On this day, June 18th, we spent a second day with Malin connecting to nature. We started by walking through the giant oak forest in silence to open up our five
senses. We focused on the things we can see, feel, touch, hear, and taste while walking through the forest. This helped us connect to the forest as we walked through it. After we arrived at a spot in between the trees, we spent a few minutes focusing on something and the space between things. This exercise helped us connect with our curiosity and get out of the logical parts of our brains. This helps us connect because our brains often like to fill in spaces. After spending some time doing this and discussing it afterward, we then connected our walk again to a different section of the forest. This time, while walking, we were paired up with someone else and talked to each other about the connections and experiences we have in nature. Then once we arrived at another spot, near some large rocks overlooking a lake at the edge of the forest we all took some time to write a letter to nature. Lastly, we discussed the positive ways that nature can impact our emotions and the benefits of spending time in nature. At the end, we talked about our favorite things we learned from our nature experience with Malin. This was another amazing experience with Malin connecting us to nature, and I hope to use what I learned in the future.