Marta Hardardottir saved her fun, interesting college classes for her year abroad at the University of Minnesota.

“Statistics, methodology, social theories — I can take that at home,” Marta said. 

Here, she’s focused on classes examining race, inequality, social movements, international law, and gender studies.

“The teachers are all insanely good at what they do,” Marta said. “There are a lot of discussion-based classes so you get to talk and get to know people.”

Marta has always wanted to study somewhere outside Iceland. 

“I thought it would be a good way to widen my horizon, get to know other cultures, as well as my own,” she said. “I feel like you never know your own culture until you actually leave it. And it’s a good way to learn more about myself, which I definitely think I have done.”

She looked into the European Union’s Erasmus exchange programs, but since she has traveled throughout Europe her whole life, she decided going to a different continent would take her more out of her comfort zone.

While looking at her options, she found out she actually has family in Minnesota. Her grandparent’s cousins live in St. Paul.

“They invited me for Thanksgiving at their house,” Marta said. “They have pictures of my grandparents in their house. It’s really sweet.”

That’s not the only family connection Marta has to Minnesota. The Val Björnson Icelandic Exchange Scholarship, which she received to fund her studies at UMN, is named after her great-great-grandmother’s husband, the former state treasurer for Minnesota. Björnson’s parents immigrated from Iceland, and he was a great supporter of Icelandic students in Minnesota.

Marta said missing her friends and family has been the hardest part of spending a year abroad, especially seeing her three-year-old niece grow up from a computer screen.

But the people here have been the highlight of her exchange program. Marta said she’s enjoyed getting off campus with her friends, whether visiting area museums or grabbing a glass of wine somewhere that has no other students around. She’s even gotten the quintessential Minnesota experience of spending a weekend at a friend’s lake cabin.

The GLOBE program, a student organization at the Carlson School of Management dedicated to supporting international exchange students, has also been a welcoming place, even though she’s not formally part of the group. Friends are always inviting her along to their events, like a Super Bowl watch party or Friendsgiving.

“Getting to know people from all over the world, and from here of course, I would say that’s by far the best part,” Marta said.