International day: celebration of diversity and global opportunities
The International Day 2025 gave the audience a taste of many countries and cultures, and hopefully inspired students and staff to take advantage of the many exchange opportunities that VUC offers.
Fargerike flagg under internasjonal dag 2025 ved Høgskolen i Volda. Foto: HVO / Fredrik Ringen.
The International Day included the study abroad fair with musical entertainment from students and a free international lunch. Students and staff at VUC visited the stands to learn more about other countries, cultures and exchange opportunities. The stands were staffed by international students in Volda, VUC students who had returned from exchanges abroad and international guests from partner institutions.
A passport full of stamps and international flavors
A popular activity on the day was the creative student competition where students received a "passport" to fill with stamps from the various stands. Three lucky winners received great prizes, the first prize being a travel voucher of 5000 NOK.
Many of the stands also offered culinary treats and tastes from the respective countries. VUC students Ida Leonthin was among the many students at the fair and admitted that she was particularly interested in the event because of all the exotic food and flavors.
Information about exchange
One of the main objectives of the International Day is to inform VUC students about the many options for student exchange and inspire them to go abroad.
At the fair we talked to the student Olivia Branstad who said she was particularly interested to learn more about exchange opportunities to Finland and Portugal. She explained that the appeal of Portugal was perhaps mostly due to the culture, whereas Finland perhaps fealt like a more sensible choice in terms of increased employability. Branstad appreciated the opportunity to talk directly with both local and international students about their experiences from studying abroad.
The exchange students at the stand for India, Alka Lewis og Govind Bubaraj, told us that their main message to Norwegian students was that they would benefit greatly from studying in India due to the experience of living in such a different cultural setting.
Andrea Holm Tanderøe, who have returned from an exchange semester in India was also a part of the stand. She also mentioned that the encounters with the Indian people and culture was the most rewarding aspect of her study abroad period.
At the stand for Denmark, Johanne Huseby, who studied in Aarhus during the fall semester, talked about her experiences of studying abroad in a slightly less exotic destintaion for most Norwegians. Still Johanne thrived during her exchange semester. She was full of prais for the city of Aarhus, which she says is big enough to boast a vibrant culture scene, yet at the same time small enough to feel like a safe town.
At the Irish stand, we met Katelyn Murray, Barbara Soehner og Dominik Pazadan. The three focused on Guiness and the pub culture when being asked what international students would experience in Ireland.
The International Day 2025 was colourful and vibrant day filled with new impulses, inspirations and encounters. It serves as an reminder of the importance of international collaboration and understanding.
Prize for internationalisation
The VUC Student Parliament has an annual Prize for internationalisation to the student organisation that has done the most to integrate international and local students in Volda. The prize was awarded on the International Day to the Student Society at Rokken (the student pub/scene).
Maher Othman from the Student Parliament awarded the prize which Harald Myhren accepted on behalf of Rokken.
The Student Peace Prize - visit from Nicaragua
Another highlight of the International Day was a visit from the organization IPEN Nicaragua, which has been awarded the Student Peace Prize 2025 at the international student festival ISFiT in Trondheim.
The leader of IPEN, Marco Aurelio Peña visited VUC together with three other colleagues from the NGO. He held a talk about the work that IPEN carries out to promote democracy and freedom of speech in Nicaragua, and how they help students who are discriminated at universities and forced into excile. The representatives from IPEN were also interviewed by students and local media, and were happy to be able to share the history of their work with Norwegian students and the local community.
International Week with 20 participants
The International Day is the highlight of the International Week at VUC where we welcome ca. 20 participants from partner institutions abroad. The guests were introduced to VUC and had lots of interesting meetings with staff and faculty during their time in Volda. Some international guests presented their home institutions on stands at the study abroad fair and got to talk directly with VUC students interested in exchange.
VUC is actively taking part in the Erasmus+ programme and most of the guests were somehow connected to an Erasmus+ partnership. This also included participants from Ghana, India and the USA, where VUC has been able to secure funding for bilateral partnerships. The recent cooperation with Ghana was even further strengthened by the presence of the Ghaninan Ambassador to Norway, Her Exchellency Abigail Naa Adzoko Kwashi.
