Numerous times throughout my Industrial Engineering studies, I would ponder what it would be like to study abroad and get a new perspective of the knowledge I had gained throughout my studies. At the beginning of my second year of masters, I took a leap of faith and applied with one of my friends to a Swedish Summer School entitled "Purchasing Logistics with a Global Perspective" at Jönköping University, situated in the heart of Sweden. This university immediately caught my attention as they are an international university, and widely known in Sweden for their student entrepreneurship, strong research and successful collaborations with industry. Furthermore, it was summer in Sweden — the best (and only) time to visit this part of the world. After receiving news that both our applications were accepted to join the summer school, I was absolutely overjoyed!

During the summer school, I got the opportunity to interact with international students from all over the world including Ecuador, America, Germany, Mexico, Turkey, Singapore, Finland, Thailand and Morocco. For me, this was the most important part of the experience — getting the opportunity to learn about so many different cultures and world views was extremely eye-opening and gave me a much greater perspective on life. We were fortunate enough to have tours of the IKEA distribution centre and Husqvarna factory. Seeing how these Swedish companies conduct their operations was a real treat and very different from anything I encountered in South Africa.

The programme coordinators and volunteers also went to great lengths to organise numerous fun social activities for us which included a Jönköping by night pub crawl, a guided bus tour of Jönköping, a BBQ and hike up the Huskvarna mountain, and a visit to the Vadstena Castle, Brahehus Castle ruins, and Gränna Candy Factory. We were also super lucky to be in Sweden to celebrate both Swedish National Day and Midsummer, together with partaking in the 2018 FIFA World Cup festivities.

Saying goodbye to Jönköping was very difficult, mostly because I had made many good friends during the programme which I would likely not see in a very long time. In South Africa, academic research in my department at Stellenbosch is typically conducted at an arm’s length from any expertise from industry and, in the same way, industry rarely reaches out to our department. What I learnt at Jönköping University was that it is sometimes difficult to draw the line between the university’s industry partners and the university itself. A student’s masters topic at Jönköping University is typically always proposed by an industry partner with the vision that the student will come and work with them during and after their studies. Fostering this type of academia-industry collaboration, I feel, would greatly benefit South Africa.

My perception of the academic standard in South Africa also significantly changed during my Sweden programme. I originally thought our standard was much lower than other countries and that our tertiary education was not comparable to Sweden. After my experience I realise that the education standard in South Africa is extremely high and that our university degrees are extremely difficult to obtain and require far more work to achieve. Regarding future travel, the one thing this trip did above all else was to ignite my passion for travelling and experience the world and its many cultures.