Category: Study Away

(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.

(Post and Image provided by Hope Frye)

Today was our first full day here at the Väddӧ Folkschool, and it was very chill! The weather was not great, as it was pretty cold and rainy in the afternoon, causing our meeting that was supposed to occur then with a local environmentalist wellness educator, Malin Ericksson, to be delayed until Friday. This gave us plenty of free time in the morning, until we met for class in the afternoon! My roommate, Olivia, and I spent that time going grocery shopping at the local ICA supermarket, which was just about 20 minutes away by walking. We used this opportunity to plan and buy enough food for all the meals and dinners we will have to make while we are here at the folkschool!

During class, we were focusing on doing our readings, but this time, we read for about 45 minutes, near each other, and focused on whatever we found interesting, whether from the class reading book, All We Can Save, or from one of the books in our “Sister Forest Library,” then after that time we came back and shared about what we had found interesting from our individual readings. I only read from All We Can Save, and I focused mostly on reading the poem “Dead Stars” from it, which I highly recommend. After that part of class, we then focused on brainstorming ideas for our community art project in Singӧ, in which, I was with a group that mainly focused on building bat houses to give to the local community.

Overall it was a very chill and relaxing day, especially after our really nice, but long experience camping; and I’m glad to be able to stay in some really nice dorms!

(Post and Image provided by Olivia Ebens)

This weekend was composed of two days of some needed rest and relaxation, but for others it’s a chance for another adventure. There was an array of different activities happening between all of the students and faculty. Many of the students went back to Stockholm or Norrtälje to wander more and experience more of the cities. Figuring out the bus schedules were an interesting journey for many. There are also some students that choose to stay in Stockholm for the night as well to extend their Stockholm adventures. Many other students stayed within Väddö, to use the days to relax or explore the surrounding area by walking or by bike.

The picture of the sea above was from one of the adventures. The students walked one hour to go to a sandy beach and experience the Baltic Sea. There was a lot of cool geology, sea plants, and sea creatures to explore while they were there. However, the Baltic Sea isn’t warm and both of the students that went there can both confirm that the temperature is comparable to Lake Superior. By the end of the day they had walked a little over 10 miles to complete their adventures. Everyone enjoyed having time to catch up on some R&R or explore the surrounding area.

Can’t wait for what tomorrow will bring,
Students of Sustainability in Sweden 2025

(Post provided by Cora Mullins, Image provided by Molly Cavaleri)

We set out around 9 o’clock this morning to meet with Malin Eriksson, a behavioral scientist who works a lot with forests and nature. She took us on a walk through the woods in a nature reserve, teaching us about opening our senses along with the importance of nature when managing one’s wellbeing. She foraged for many edible lingonberry flowers, spruce tips, blueberry leaves, and juniper fruits that we got to try while experimenting with taste. We ended our time with her by “forest bathing,” where we all laid in the moss and blueberry bushes (which was actually quite comfortable) and just relaxed. It left us feeling rejuvenated and ready for the rest of the day.

In the afternoon, we headed to Singӧ, a nearby island at the top of the Stockholm Archipelago. After a quick box lunch of salmon or tofu (depending on diet items), we met up with Gabriel Liljenström, a Singӧ local and a teacher and consultant. He brought us many local foods to try, such as rye bread and pickled herring, black licorice, dried mackerel, cookies, sea buckthorn and gooseberry juice! Then we set out into the woods for a tour of the Singӧ School Forest and a forest talk. When we parted ways, we walked around the forest a little more, brainstorming and planning for our community art project that we are starting next week.

Many of us then spent the evening making dinner, working on projects, and hanging out in the community house. It was a pretty relaxing day before heading into our free weekend.