One month later, our time in Sweden is over. Let’s reflect back on the study abroad experience as a whole rather than going day by day.
Looking back, it feels as thought the first week went by so fast. We were doing CAD all day everyday, so nothing particularly memorable came out of the long hours we spent in the Chalmers classroom (except for perhaps fika breaks). But when I reflect on the version of Engi 355 we did, I am amazed at how quickly I learned the ropes of Fusion. I remember on the first day everything felt new and I had very little comfort using Fusion, but just 5 days later I feel like I achieved the intermediate proficciency Dr Wettergreen was aiming for. The homework assignments and midterm could be very frustrating but in the end they definitely helped my CAD abilities.
The Dare2Build design project, or the version of Engi 200 we took is definitely the class that will stick in my mind longer. It was very different from what I expected, as the scale of the entire project was much larger than the typical four person Engi 120 teams, and the fact that it took place in the wilderness was far different from anything a regular Engi class encounters. But this certainly wasn’t a bad thing. I enjoyed having the opportunity to work on a small subteam with a larger project, which feels more like my involvement in Rice Eclipse than a design project, and working in the woods took me back to my days as a boy scout. Taking on managerial positions was also a good learning experience, though they sometimes took precious time away from working on the project. It was very hard work because we only had two weeks of building (and some of the team stayed one extra week after we left), but I’m proud of what we were able to create. I definitely learned a lot of skills from this project, from leadership and cooperation to working with tools.
However, the classes I took weren’t my favorite part of my study abroad. What I really loved was having the ability to explore new places and get completely new experiences. I loved all of the runs I went on because they showed me different and beautiful parts of Gothenburg I never would’ve gotten to see otherwise, and gave me some great views of the city and surrounding forests. I loved going to the archipelego after our second week because we explored a completely new area and had a lot of fun jumping into freezing cold water off a diving board on a sparsely inhabited island. And of course there’s the weekend we went to Copenhagen, which was by far my favorite part of the entire study abroad. The city was beautiful and lively, and we fit a ton of things into the 20 hours we were there. And let’s not forget, the private concert we got from a local, Peter, was extra special.
Overall, it was a pretty excellent month. I learned a ton in a short time from the two classes, saw a lot of awesome places, became a lot closer with the other Rice students (many of whom I didn’t know previously), and met some great people along the way. The only things I wish were different were having a bit more free time to relax and explore the places we went to, and to make the trip a little bit longer ( it would’ve been nice to see the Dare2Build project completed and this also would’ve spread out the work). Nevertheless, the memories I made will be cherised for a long, long time.