Exploring Norway at UiT

This July one of USTU students returned home from Norway, where she studied during a spring semester on the exchange program called Barents Plus.

Alexandra Oparina, the third year student of Economics, got selected by the USTU International Department to be sent to Norway for having her internship at UiT-The Arctic University of Norway. This university is located in Tromsø, one of the largest towns of Norway which is also known as ‘The Gateway to the Arctic’.

Alexandra would like to share her bright impressions with us and told us some facts of her unforgettable experience:

“During my internship the most interesting thing was my study. The education system is completely different from the system that we have in Russia. In the beginning you have to select the most suitable courses for yourself. As I am learning Economics, I chose two main courses called ‘Business English’ and ‘Entrepreneurship’. I was totally impressed with the teaching method of professors at the university. The lectures were so amazing and entertaining that I never felt bored. We were supposed to work in a group of 5-7 people. Working in a group we did interesting tasks such as building prototypes of our business ideas and testing it afterwards. The entrepreneurship course helped me to understand the main concepts of entrepreneurship and its importance. It also helped me to gain practical knowledge in relevant innovative methods such as design thinking and startup creating.

The infrastructure in the university is very well equipped. Each semester the International Office organizes an Introductory program for new international students coming from every corner of the world. This program helps new students to interact and get to know each other. In this program we had to attend some presentations which gave us information about the general life in Tromsø, the bus system, the health system, how to get our Norwegian ID number etc. International student advisers at the faculties assist new students regarding their study abroad. There is a special organization called International Students Union (ISU) that arranges different events such as barbeque, sports competitions, movie nights, international dinners and parties which make life of international student during their stay in Tromsø more fun. They even organized language classes for international students to learn foreign languages (Spanish, Norwegian, French, Polish etc.) which are taught by native speakers absolutely for free. This gave me an opportunity to improve not only my English skills, but also learn basic phrases in Norwegian and Spanish.

This exchange experience opened my eyes to new culture of different counties and helped me to understand the world from different viewpoints. It was a great chance to meet people from all over the world and make new friends.

 Living in Norway was definitely a memorable experience of my life. I am very grateful to my university for giving me such an opportunity.”

We are happy for Alexandra, and would like more of USTU students to have such memories! Our next student Evgeniy Papich, who is going to be sent to Norway, is preparing for the trip and the autumn semester at UiT now. The International Department team is always ready to provide him with any kind of support and wishes him best of luck!