Student blogs

Hello hello! My name is Linnea, and I started the Master’s Programme in Toxicology at KI just a bit more than a month ago. Time flies and I can’t believe that I’ve even taken my first exams already… wasn’t it just yesterday that I entered that classroom full of new faces, introductions and information sessions? New beginnings can be nerve-racking, but I’m happy to say that I really feel like I’m in the right place here. That feeling basically came right away because of how smooth the start of the programme was. The highlight: an overnight trip to the archipelago. But let’s start at the beginning.

Meeting my class

Monday was the day of meeting everyone the first time – most importantly of course, my new classmates. We are 28 students in my class, which one of the professors seemed especially happy about: “That’s the perfect amount, you can make groups of so many different combinations. So please, no one drop out😊.” That remark showed so many things; that literally everyone in the programme matters and got chosen with care, and that we’ll have lots of group projects in these two years. I agree with him, by the way, because with 28 students you have a chance to properly get to know everyone you’re studying with.

Meeting everyone (and everything) else

Tuesday was the day of the ‘joint kick-off’ of several of the Master programmes. We filled a big lecture hall and received lots of information about the different programmes, KI, MF (Medicinska Föreningen, the student union), BUS (the association within MF for all biomedical programmes – toxicology counts in here), Studenthälsan (the Student Wellbeing Centre) and the KI University Library. We also had some interactive group tasks and mingled with people from the other programmes. The kick-off session ended with an inspirational talk from an alumna who told us about her career path from academia into the life science industry.

Starting with the first course

On Wednesday, we had our first lecture of the ‘Principles in Toxicology’ course and a workshop on intercultural communication. The lecture showed me that I’m in the right place because of its captivating content. I was actively listening throughout the entire lecture, which is not a given in my case, believe me! The workshop made us think and talk about the cultural diversity in our class. In some sense, that also made me feel like I belong here, since multicultural and international settings have always felt like a home to me.

Overnight trip to the archipelago

The cherry on top of the week was Thursday and Friday: the trip to Finnhamn! Finnhamn is a small island quite far out in the archipelago – so far, that it’s even named something along the lines of “Finland port”. The boat trip there took four hours and was really beautiful, and we were lucky to have good weather throughout both days of the trip.

The time on Finnhamn went way too fast and was filled with all kinds of different activities. We had workshops to get to know each other and our backgrounds and expectations, we enjoyed lots of good food and fika, went on exploration walks around the island and tried out Kubb, a traditional Swedish outdoor game. My personal highlight of the activities on Finnhamn was going to the sauna and swimming in the sea. A must during your time in Sweden!

My very first week of the Tox Master’s got me excited about the programme, my classmates and the coming two years. I’m curious to see how this adventure will continue. Stay tuned to hear more!