It's Tuesday morning and on the train between Lund and Helsingborg, we meet four of the program's students: Eva Brucker, 24 years old from Germany, Jade Mascaret, 23 years old, from France, Laura Madrigal Fernández and Julia Esquius Cortés, both 22 years old and from Spain. All four live in Lund and usually meet at the central station to travel together to Campus Helsingborg.
"My bachelor's degree was pretty wide and I like this program because it is specifically focused on strategic communication while giving you the opportunity to look into different topics," says Eva. Last fall she studied an exchange semester at Umeå University and felt that she wanted to continue her studies in Sweden, this time further south. Julia has also studied part of her bachelor's program in Sweden: “I liked the experience of studying here and wanted to get back. In Spain there are no programmes in English," she says. - My previous education focused mainly on the EU, I like the fact that this programme is international, with students and teachers from different countries and with different nationalities, Jade adds. Laura agrees: “I really value the international environment and that was one of the reasons why I chose this Master.”
The students have participated in several different welcome activities, including a guided tour to Helsingborg and a visit to the City Hall, where they met representatives from the Municipal Council, as well as from the organizations Studentstaden, Helsingborg International Connections (HIC) and Campus Vänner. This week they participated in an introductory meeting held by the Programme Director, Maria Månsson, together with the Master Coordinator, Frida Hessel. They were also welcomed by the Head of Department, Mozhgan Zachrison, and got the chance to meet the master's SI mentors, the librarian Jenny Hägglund and other staff.
A busy fall semester awaits, starting with the course “Strategic Communication in Intercultural Contexts”. Between lectures and group work, there will certainly be time for “fika”, “tura” and exploring student life in Helsingborg and Lund.