Good Bye Kolding
Seven months ago I had arrived to Design School Kolding. Midway in June, I had completed my final exam, which marked the official end to my semester abroad. With my last post for this blog, I’ll summarize and reflect back to the moments that made this exchange so unforgettable.
Time truly flies when you are immersed into a life that you love. Arriving in Kolding seven months ago I had a slight idea of what I would accomplish and experience this semester. I owe it all to Design School Kolding for giving me this opportunity.
Throughout the semester I have had the privilege of working with Kolding Hospital and Lego. Collaborating with the Danes and the other international students during these projects had taught me to solve problems from multiple perspectives.
Outside of the Design School I attended two weekend entrepreneurial events (Start-Up Weekend Aarhus and GoBuddy) which pushed my knowledge outside of the classroom walls. Although, the Canadian entrepreneurial scene is much larger, Denmark still provides a large amount of support to its own entrepreneurs.
Being stuck in North America for a significant amount of time, I took every possible opportunity to travel as much as I could. Italy, Greece, Germany, Sweden, and Norway were the countries I got to experience which made this semester that much richer and rewarding. Doing this was crucial for my design process since it provided me with so much more experience that the school simply cannot teach you.
And of course I took a significant amount of time to explore Denmark. I visited Denmark’s six biggest cities but, the most rewarding trips came out of the smaller Danish towns. When the weather finally got nice and the sun made a promising appearance, my adventurous exchange friend, Alexis Tourron and I went on a 115 km bike ride from Kolding to Blåvand. Travelling by bike across the country truly let us soak in our time in Denmark.
Overall I was given a chance to spend seven months with some of the most amazing exchange students anyone could ever ask for. We all came from different parts of the world but felt closer and closer to family as the semester unfolded. We set up weekly “family dinners” to keep everyone united and to explore each other’s traditional dishes.
Although, I was initially a bit skeptical coming to such a small town like Kolding. I am now more than satisfied with what I have experienced in the past six months. As long as you come with an open mind and are ready to embrace ambiguity, any experience aboard will be a great one.