After choosing Uppsala University and having lived that life for a little over a year, I think I can finally justify why I made that choice.

When I started looking into universities to do my Masters, I had a picture in my head of what I wanted this chapter of my life to look like.

The Asian in me definitely wanted to study at a university with a strong academic reputation; somewhere I would be challenged, surrounded by passionate peers, and overall be in an environment that exposes me to ideas that would change the way I see Global health (that’s my masters btw).

But that was not it… I was greedy, I wanted more than just that.

I wanted to live somewhere that would take me beyond what I already knew, somewhere I would not only meet people from different corners of the world with stories and perspectives completely different from my own, but also form friendships that crossed borders.

And I wanted culture. I wanted to feel what it was like to live as a student in a place with its own traditions and identity. That along with the academic reputation the university holds really drew me to Uppsala; the huge student life and their centuries old nation culture. The idea that there was this whole world of student traditions, events, friendships and experiences waiting to be discovered outside the classroom made the university feel like so much more than just a place to study.

And in all fairness, I was quite hungry for a little personal growth too, not just a professional one. I wanted to figure myself out a bit, push myself out of my comfort zone, and see who I’d become along the way. Because, let’s be honest, doing a Master’s in your 20s is basically a very socially acceptable quarter-life crisis…. except this one comes with a degree at the end of it and a big bag of memories.

And now, after a little over a year here, I think I can finally give you the VERDICT.

Because if you have made it all the way here, I’m guessing that’s what you have been waiting for…. “Is Uppsala everything I hoped it would be?”

Honestly, I got so much of what I came here looking for, and then a whole lot more that I didn’t even know I needed. I have met some genuinely wonderful people, grown in ways I didn’t expect, and discovered versions of myself I wouldn’t have met anywhere else.

There have been highs and lows, and everything in between. Some people came into my life and became family, while some others were meant to be part of my journey for just a little while, and I think that’s all a part of the “little package” we get to call life.

And somewhere between all the studies, the friendships, the nations, the travels, the late nights, the “fika” breaks, the spontaneous plans and the occasional quarter life crisis….. Uppsala became a little piece of HOME.