Caitlin Callahan

I took a semester off at the beginning of 2022 and I traveled for a total of four months. I made this decision when my exchange to Sweden, which was supposed to be from January to June, 2022, was canceled three weeks before my departure. UBC Okanagan had canceled all of their outgoing exchanges as a precautionary measure due to a new strain of Covid surfacing. I was devastated because I had been looking forward to traveling and living abroad for years. Luckily I was able to postpone my exchange to the fall semester, but I was still aching to travel and experience independence that would challenge my comfort level.

A close friend of mine named Maya had her exchange semester to Paris canceled as well, so we decided to take the semester off and travel together. We had no plan, but we were eager to start, so we met up in her home town in New Mexico; and from there we traveled to Colorado, Utah, and California. We spent 2 weeks in Mexico and then I flew down to Liberia in Costa Rica to stay with an old friend of a friend for a week. Then Maya joined us and we traveled all around the province Guanacaste and around Lake Arenal by staying in Airbnb’s with a couple friends we met along the way. When they left, Maya and I traveled to Jaco to stay at a surf hostel for 3 weeks where we surfed and took Spanish lessons almost every day. We had originally wanted to stay for only one week and then travel to Panama, but we loved the hostel so much that we extended our stay instead. My mom and step-dad wanted to join the adventures so we flew to Ecuador to meet them and stayed in Quito for a night before flying out to the Gálapagos Islands where we explored a few islands by boat for five days. It was surreal, I vividly remember snorkeling with penguins and sharks on either side of me. From there we flew to Peru where we stayed in Cusco and traveled to Machu Picchu. Peru had the most unbelievable food, my favorite was the Alpaca steak!

When my exchange was canceled, my dad told me “if you can’t adventure right, adventure left” to which I rolled my eyes at first, but it stuck with me. There were many obstacles I faced while traveling, but having a good attitude and letting the change take me in a different direction made my travels so incredible. I wasn’t able to go to Sweden when I had planned, but I’m so glad it worked out the way that it did. Now the European friends I had made in Costa Rica were able to visit me in Sweden! wasn’t interested in a Master’s degree until I went on exchange this year. Now, studying abroad excites me and I want to continue my studies further.

Currently I am studying at Lund University in Sweden. During my first semester I was taking solely business courses such as entrepreneurship, international business, and business marketing. They were fantastic and I noticed their focus on sustainability.

Advice that I have for Aberdeen Hall students is to understand that their goals and aspirations will change as time goes on, because life isn’t always predictable - but that’s what makes it so entertaining.

I thought I wanted to graduate with my bachelor’s degree in four years, but when classes went online, my enjoyment of university dwindled and I no longer felt purpose in my work. Taking the semester off was scary as I knew it would set me back from my original goal, but I’m so glad that I did. Taking that semester off allowed me to study for one year in Sweden instead of just one semester (because I have to finish my last semester at UBCO).

I’ve now been able to take some free standing electives so I’ve been taking some cultural and Swedish language courses. After graduation I want to work for a year and then apply for a Master’s program outside of Canada, perhaps in tourism, hotel management or international marketing. I