I lived in NYC with my 6 siblings during undergrad. For graduate school, I was determined to go abroad.

11.11.2024 - 02:43 / insider.com / Education

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Omarni Webb. Webb completed a master's degree in marketing in Sweden and later worked as a data analyst. She is currently on a career break. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2017, I left NYC and moved to Sweden to pursue a graduate degree in marketing.

I had gotten my undergraduate degree in fashion business managementatthe Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, which was paid for through the Pell Grant.

After graduation, I worked in the fashion industry for around a year. But I realized that careergrowth in fashion, specifically design, was incredibly slow.

At the same time, I had always wanted to study marketing. I figured that having a master's degree would give me an edge because I would know how to design clothes and market them.

So, I started looking into schools in New York. I looked at Columbiaand New York University but soon realized that I couldn't afford to go to either,even if I got accepted.

Tuition at NYU's Stern School of Business, for example, costs over $80,000 a year — my kidney couldn't pay for that. I had gotten through college with no debt and wanted to do the same for my master's degree. I realized I needed to find another option.

My favorite retailers have always been Dollar Tree, Burlington, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Ikea. I love knickknacks and how Ikea manages to create organized chaos.

My love for Ikea inspired me to look up colleges in Sweden, the country where the furniture brand was founded. In the span of two weeks, I researched all of the requirements, sent everything in and that was that.

A few of the parameters that I set limited my options. The classes needed to be taught in English, and I was only interested in one-year programs because I didn't have enough funds to sustain myself for two years. The options I found were Mälardalen University and Stockholm University.

I got into Mälardalen University in Västerås, a city an hour and a half away from Stockholm. I remember screaming with joy when I got in.

It honestly didn't hit me that I was in Sweden until I was on a shuttle bus heading to the school. Growing up in Brooklyn, as the oldest of seven siblings, it was a breath of fresh air to live on my own for the first time in my life. I didn't feel scared, and I could adapt to the new environment.

Before moving to Sweden, I had only traveled outside the US once to visit London. But while I was living in Europe, I traveled at least once every two months to countries like Germany, Estonia, Denmark, and Finland. I could catch a flight with a friend and go somewhere for two or three days before we flew back for classes.

I loved the safety of living in Sweden. It was a complete change from