A slightly different exam period

Before receiving the exam assignment, you must complete ten weeks of teaching from various lecturers and a final group project.

The individual exam assignment must be submitted within three weeks and can be written anywhere. Some went straight home to write their exam, while others planned to combine working on the exam with traveling in Asia.

Many of us who were going to continue traveling chose to stay in Hoi An for an extra week to get a good start on the assignment.

We suspected that it would be easier to sit down and focus in a city we already know well, rather than in new places where you’d rather spend your time exploring the surroundings.

I spent a lot of time writing the exam, but we also had the chance to enjoy the last days in the city, go back to our favorite places one last time, and do things we maybe hadn’t had time for during the semester.

That meant the start of the exam period didn’t feel particularly intense or all‑consuming, but rather like a nice way to wrap up life in Hoi An.

For me and my four travel companions, the journey continued to Ho Chi Minh City by night bus. After a 17-hour trip and a surprisingly good night’s sleep, we woke up in the chaotic metropolis in the south. Here, the days were spent on everything but writing exams.

The journey continued, and after a few days in Bangkok we realized that big-city life and writing exams are not necessarily the best combination. It turned out to be difficult to prioritize the assignment when there’s so much else you’d rather be doing.

Fortunately, you have quite a lot of time to complete the exam assignment, so taking a few days’ break along the way is not a problem.

We were also strategic in the planning phase of our itinerary, and included not only big cities on our trip to Thailand, but also an island where we could settle down a bit more during the final week before the deadline.

Between breaks at the beach and visits to local restaurants, everyone managed to finish writing their exam.

One of the days we even made it a priority to go on a snorkeling trip, and swam with tropical fish, sharks, and turtles. Even so, we didn’t manage to see and do everything we wanted on the island, and I really wish I’d had a bit more time there, without an exam assignment hanging over me.

I was curious to see how it would be to combine exams with traveling. It has gone surprisingly well, even though the exams have at times taken more time than I would have liked and meant that we haven’t managed to do everything we wanted.

At the same time, I’ve experienced a lot, and the weeks have honestly felt as much like a vacation as an exam period.

The last stop before returning home was Hong Kong, which became a kind of celebration of finishing the exam and the semester that has passed.

When I signed up for the Development Studies semester in Hoi An, I didn’t really know what to expect.

Now that the exam has been submitted and I’m back in Norway again, I’m glad I chose exactly this.

Throughout the program you are introduced to several exciting topics and gain new perspectives on how the world works, which I believe is useful whether you plan to use the credits in a bachelor’s degree or not.

In other words, it’s something I can recommend, especially if you’re tempted by a semester abroad and an exam period that’s a bit out of the ordinary!