Living in Skellefteå - read what you like

Campus Skellefteå brings together a healthy mix of long-distance migrants, home-grown locals, distance students and international PhD students with one thing in common: they have all chosen Skellefteå as their base for study and work. Three of them are Anna Sundgren, Antonia Alba and Erik Okfors.

Anna Sundgren and Antonia Alba chose distance learning in Skellefteå to train as nurses at home. For Antonia, a mother of young children, it was a natural step after many years in the nursing profession.

- 'I've worked as an assistant nurse for a long time, and this is an opportunity to develop something new in the same industry,' says Antonia Alba.

Her fellow student Anna Sundgren also has children and family in Skellefteå. Moving to Umeå for studies was therefore not an option, and now she has almost completed her first two semesters of Umeå University's nursing program at a distance.

- "In general, it works very well with distance learning. We have a number of physical meetings each semester where we are divided into different working groups, otherwise lectures and seminars take place digitally. But this places high demands on the course coordinator, who must be available for questions and support.

With classmates scattered in everything from Gothenburg to Stockholm and Vilhelmina, the geographical distance is great.

- But even though we are studying remotely, we have very good cohesion within the class, says Antonia Alba.

The biggest advantage of distance learning, according to Anna and Antonia, is the freedom and flexibility. It gives them the opportunity to complete their studies at home, to control their time and to be able to be free with the children when it is most needed.

- Studying in Umeå would have been possible, but it's tough with long distances when you have children. I am very happy that this program and the possibility of distance learning exists, says Anna Sundgren.

For Erik Okfors, studying in Skellefteå instead meant a big move, 40 miles north. He moved from Sundsvall to Campus Skellefteå to study game design.

- "I had friends who had moved up from Sundsvall who liked Skellefteå very much, so it felt safe. And the reception here was fantastic, the student life with a good balance of party and study focus suited me perfectly, says Erik Okfors.

After three years, Erik Okfors graduated in computer game graphics and alternated graphics-related assignments with work as a bartender. Another education, this time in computer game development, led to a job as a programmer. Since 2021, Erik has joined the consulting company Creative Crowd, which supports the development of game industry clusters.

- I really wanted to stay in Skellefteå, and my background in both design and programming was a good match with Creative Crowd.

Today, Erik is very happy that he took the step and moved up to Skellefteå. For those who are curious about how it works, he has some advice:

- "You can always contact the schools and come up for a visit. Many of us have moved up and stayed, and are happy to share our experiences.