Student story: Anna Koskinen's north2north semester abroad in Scotland

I spent my exchange semester in Aberdeen, Scotland studying Computing at Robert Gordon University in the spring of 2025. Before my exchange, I had dreamt of visiting Scotland and Ireland for a long time and the north2north exchange program gave me the perfect opportunity to spend four months in Scotland. My studies in Scotland were focused on Software Development which is also my major in Finland. The courses I had were quite different from my courses back home, and a few of them consisted mainly of group work. This gave allowed me to work with and get to know many local and international Computing students.

I enjoyed Aberdeen as an exchange destination and felt that it was the perfect sized city for me. It didn’t have the hustle and bustle of a big city but still enough things to do to keep you entertained. I found Aberdeen to be a very warm and welcoming city and Scottish people are some of the friendliest I have ever met. It was easy to get around Aberdeen by walking or public transport and it was also easy to get to other parts of Scotland to explore all the beautiful castles, cliffsides, mountains and lakes Scotland has to offer. Many of these places were accessible by public transport and I only travelled by car during the spring break when we did a road trip to the Isle of Skye with a 
few other exchange students. It was also possible to fly from Aberdeen directly to Dublin which we did, and I got to cross off Ireland from my places to visit list. RGU had great free sports facilities and many different clubs and societies you could join. I had a fun experience trying the Forensics Society’s crime solving puzzle night. Other than that I didn’t personally find any clubs I wanted to join and spent most of my free time doing things with the other exchange students. One of the things we did was meet every Wednesday at a pub to catch up and occasionally join a pub quiz.

The best things I gained from my exchange experience were the chance to meet and make friends with people from all over the world and get more confident in speaking English. I didn’t have issues speaking English before my exchange but living in an English-speaking country and communicating daily in English with other exchange students and locals made speaking English feel much more natural. Even now after my exchange, I jump at the opportunity to speak English with someone and enjoy it more than ever thought possible. Living in another country and navigating daily life in a 
completely new place was an exciting challenge and life experience I will always value highly.

Overall living and studying abroad was a very positive experience and Scotland will forever hold a special place in my heart. I can’t recommend Scotland more as a study exchange destination and I’m already eager to go back.