When my husband first voiced his eagerness to study the MS Solar Engineering program at Dalarna University, I squealed and jumped at the thought of spending a year or possibly more in an exquisite destination such as Sweden.
Quickly, however, my thoughts changed tracks as to what I would do there. After having worked as a sustainability professional for two years, it would be hard for me to go back to doing nothing.
However, Sweden had other plans for me. When I combed through the university’s website, the first thing that struck me was the option to study languages at Dalarna full-time. A lot of fretting, thinking, rethinking finally led to my decision of studying Swedish and Japanese at the university. I quickly applied online with the same procedure as other students and gladly got admitted to both the courses.
The best part of all this? I wouldn’t need to pay any tuition, since I was moving to Sweden as a dependent.
Dependents moving here is not all that uncommon and in fact, there are quite a few great options for you if you move here with a spouse or with family. There are some really great courses you can choose to apply for at Dalarna (you need to have some relevant background for them, of course). I chose to learn Swedish (because well, duh, where better to learn it?!) and continue learning Japanese, a language for which I have previously given one exam. Dalarna University has an excellent media and language faculty, so it was an easy breezy decision to make!
Don’t be dampened by the thought of being able to do nothing if you move here as a dependent. With the kind of courses offered at Dalarna, work opportunities (after learning a little bit of the Swedish language) and the amazing travel possibilities available aplenty around you, I’m sure you can discover yourself well here. As I have said earlier, Sweden feeds fodder to all passions.
I will speak more on the Swedish language in further posts, about why it is important to learn it if you plan to work here, a few tips and tricks I have picked up so far etc. But for now – please know that even as a dependent, you can explore your independence in Sweden easily.
Carpe diem!
Dalarna university student blog 