The Joys of Mobility!
By: Jason Wertz, Ohio, USA
The idea of pursuing a Master’s Degree in Higher Education in three different countries in Europe has an incredible appeal. Not only does it provide the opportunity to study in detail the intricacies and differences found in various Higher Education systems, but as a student you get the opportunity to live in a foreign country and experience these differences first hand. We are now at the stage of having just completed our first semester of study in Oslo, Norway and are beginning a new semester in Tampere, Finland.
As exciting as it may be to move to a new country and anticipate the new experiences that you will have, you first have to get there. Plus, you have to get all of your stuff there. This is the point when you begin to realize just how complex being a global student can be. Of course there are airlines that fly to Finland, but they do have baggage limits which seem to get more and more restrictive each year. Our textbooks alone push the weight limits that airlines now so readily enforce. So how do you do it? What’s the best way to pack up everything you have and move to another country over the holiday break?
Before I started this programme, I had the opportunity to meet with a student who had already been through this transition from Norway to Finland. Her move was an epic voyage, so I knew that someday I would face this same challenge. First, she took all of her stuff on a bus from Oslo to Stockholm, then transferred to an overnight ferry to Turku, Finland, then switched to a bus to get to Tampere, and finally took a taxi to her new residence.
My move didn’t involve as many international ports of call but it did prove to be quite challenging. It involved calculating the number of days the post office in Finland would hold my boxes over the holidays since I had to send some things in advance by post from Norway. It involved the generous help of my German friends in Oslo as we lugged my packed bags across campus just so we could weigh them to make sure I was maximizing every kilo the airline would allow. It involved packing dirty laundry in Oslo to bring home to the United States for the holidays just so I could wash it and ship it by post because if I didn’t my luggage would be over limit. It involved tracking packages over the Norwegian Post’s website while I was home in the US for the holidays and exchanging e-mail with my classmates scattered around the world trying to reassure each other that eventually everything would work out.
As our class converged from all corners of the world to Finland after our holiday break, the struggles endured. Flights were delayed, luggage was lost, and some were even served notice that before they could receive the packages they had shipped, they had to meet with a custom’s official in Finland for a thorough inspection! Despite the hassles, the worrying, the negotiating, and the creative planning, we have all finally arrived in Tampere to a very warm welcome. The excitement of a new country, a new semester, and new opportunities make it all worth the effort it took to get here.
Before joining the HEEM programme, Jason had been working in financial aid administration and admissions for 12 years at Ohio Wesleyan University in the U.S. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a bachelor's degree in International Business and French. In his third year, of the four-year bachelor's degree programme, he studied abroad in France.
