Nyhavn canal street in Copenhagen

On May 21, 2024, I arrived in the spectacular city of Copenhagehn, Denmark through the DIS program. I was not sure what to expect, as I had never been outside of the United States until this point. I knew this place was going to be different than Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas. However, I chose this city because of the amazing courses DIS offers here and I wanted to travel somewhere different than most of the countries I hear about in Europe. I honestly wanted to travel somewhere a bit unknown to my knowledge. I expected a flourishing community and serene atmosphere in Copenhagen, but wow, I was blown away. Not only does Copenhagen have these two attributes, but it has numerous other amazing details. The kindness of the Danes, the beautiful architecture, and the participation of the community in this city are well above my expectations.

The day of my flight, I left Dallas on May 20. I was flying from Dallas to Paris De Gaulle Airport and landed in Paris on May 21 at 8:00 am due to the 7-hour time change. This was absolutely crazy to me. Not only had I never been on a flight of this duration, but the time difference and jet lag took a toll. During my layover in Paris, waiting for my Copenhagen flight, I ran into my roommate for the upcoming summer semester! This was such a relief that someone else was going through the same trek as me and I was able to get to know her before we were about to spend 6 weeks together. We were able to fly to Copenhagen together, find our bus to our DIS housing from the airport, and unpack our luggage into our DIS apartment while meeting our third roommate.

Initially I thought culture shock was something I needed to prepare for. However, after only the first day in Denmark, I was so comfortable with my surroundings. Most Danes are taught English in school, so pretty much everyone I have encountered can speak English just as well as their native Danish. This has been a huge help considering this was an unknown territory to my roommates and I. Something else that helped is that we have two local Danish boy roommates in our apartment with us that have done nothing but welcome us with open arms since we have arrived. They have helped us with any confusion and made this place truly feel like home.

For my first three weeks in Copenhagen, I took a class called “Human Health and Disease: A Clinical Approach.” My major is Food, Nutrition and Health, but I am on the pre– Physician Assistant track for my future. This honestly was one of the best courses I have taken during my college career. Our two professors for this course are both Physicians here in Copenhagen. It was amazing to learn from the perspective of two professionals. During this course we wrote patient cases for ill patients, learned techniques such as suturing, catheter, and IV insertion, discussed the Danish health care system, and even got to visit Herlev Hosptial to perform ER simulations with Herlev medical students. Something that stood out to me about this course was the fact that the learning was very “hands-on.” Our professors were able to have us practice techniques and diagnoses that will be needed later for the medical field. After college I hope to attend PA school and use this information. They challenged us with open ended questions and discussions while keeping the learning environment safe. No one ever seemed nervous to answer a question or scared to speak up to the professors because of the environment they created. For the next three weeks, I will be taking “Post Colonial Europe: Narratives, Nationalism, and Race.” This class starts tomorrow for me, and I am excited to take a course quite different from my previous one!

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin

One thing I have loved most about this experience thus far is being able to travel to other countries. During my first weekend studying abroad, my roommates and I traveled to Oslo, Norway for the weekend. Even though Oslo is a part of Scandinavia like Copenhagen, the culture/city was immensely different. It was interesting to observe these differences. While in Oslo we were able to visit the famous “The Scream” painting by Edvard Munch, visit the Oslo Opera House, and hike various trails nearby. This last weekend I traveled again with my roommates to Dublin, Ireland for three days, arrived back home in Copenhagen for one day, and them immediately left for Venice, Italy the next day. We stayed in Venice for three days also. This past week when we made these two trips, we had a break in between class sessions to have some fun and travel to these places! I will remember these travelling moments for a lifetime, and I recommend everyone travel to these places if they get the chance.

As for now, I am back home in Copenhagen preparing for my new class starting tomorrow. These past three weeks have been the experience I could have ever asked for. I genuinely love this city and program so much and would recommend it to anyone who is curious! I cannot wait for this next course and to be able to explore more of this wonderful city.