Hayat Ahmed is an international studies
student at American University of Sharjah
who, while studying abroad in the 2014-
2015 academic year, was able to study
in both Sweden and the United States
and completed her year abroad with an
internship in San Francisco.
Starting her journey in Sweden during
Fall 2014, Ahmed studied at Linnaeus
University. She said she enjoyed the
immersive experience of staying with a
host family and experienced completely
new seasons, especially when sunset
would be around 3 p.m. in December.
Studying in Sweden was very different
from what she was accustomed to, as the
academic system involved one course per
month. Ahmed explained that studying in
Sweden was highly beneficial due to its
distinct socioeconomic policy and political position in the world.
While in Europe Hayat Ahmed travelled
to destinations such as Paris, Spain and
Geneva. The United States was up next on her
study abroad adventure, where she
studied at St. Lawrence University in
upstate New York for Spring 2015. The
system there was more familiar. Ahmed
said she enjoyed her courses, explaining
that they helped broaden her horizons in
the field of international studies.
While in the United States, Ahmed
travelled to Boston, Minnesota, Chicago
and Washington, DC, and, upon
completing her semester in New York,
spent Summer 2015 doing her internship
in San Francisco for Human Rights Watch.
