IT University Travel Report
Dear Student, this is a template – the aim is to inspire other students who may wish to follow in your
footsteps. You are free to give your report the shape you want and to go beyond the questions, as
long as you cover the information asked for below. You are also very welcome to include pictures and
contact information – but you need not. Remember that the report will be made available on the
intranet.
Host University: Hawaii Pacific university (HPU)
Study Programme at IT University : Digital Design & Kommunikation
Exchange Agreement or Study Abroad: Study Abroad
Courses studied abroad:


Modern Methods in Project Management
Consulting – Theory & Practice
Your stay abroad
What was it like to study at [the university] (including choice of courses, academic level, social life
at campus)?
The university buildings and the main walking street between them is very nice, clean and had a high
security level. You will also find a lot of student restaurants/cafés on that street. I can’t really say
many bad things about the facilities other than they keep it extremely chilly inside every classroom
because of their overuse of AC. This is a big contrast to the warm weather outside so bring sweaters
for class!
The academic level is a bit lower than what I am accustomed to at ITU. Also the ways they teach at
HPU are different than at Danish academic faculties. They put more focus on the participation in
each class and the fact that you deliver all your assignments rather than the actual academic level of
what has been produced.
There are a lot of social events being offered through the private university mail, that you gain upon
signing up for courses. This gives even more choices of things to do and is a good way to meet new
people. Especially if you want to interact with local students rather than only hanging out with other
studying abroad students, which usually is a tendency that is hard to circumvent. The main activities
that I exercised a lot, was hiking, surfing, snorkeling, tennis, basketball. I can recommend the website
unrealhawaii.com for detailed descriptions for going hiking.
Further down I give my opinion on the two courses that I participated in.
What was your initial motivation for going abroad and did your stay meet your expectations?
My motivation was a lot based on other of my friends’ feedback from their experiences when
studying abroad. They have all had great experiences and broaden their cultural view as well as their
international network. This is something that I find could be very useful in the future, both
professionally and personally. Aside from that, I thought it could be very enriching on a personal level
to see how my field of work is being carried out in another culture.
Regarding if the stay met my expectations I would say ‘absolutely yes’ overall. However, I felt that I
gained much more useful knowledge from my Project management course than I did with my
Consulting course.
On the other hand, the social life was really great and the opportunities to go do stuff with people
was abundant and therefore clearly outweighing the lack of learning in one of my courses.
Please describe what you got out of your stay, both personally and academically, and how do you
expect it to contribute to your further studies?
On a personal level I met a lot of new people that I consider a part of my network now. Many of
those I hung out with, comes from different parts in the world and I know that I am more than
welcome to visit them, whether it would be a business or vacation trip.
My studies have helped me think more objectively on things. Consulting gave me a way to think
about how people interact with each other and consider how to engage different types of people
that I might meet in my professional life.
Project Management has given me a perspective where I will be able to rationalize on a project to
see in what areas it can be optimized and how a team is motivated to perform at its best. Both skill
sets are relevant to me as I have plans on becoming an entrepreneur withn a few years from now. In
that regard, it is necessary to know how to plan and work on both a process planning level as well as
an interpersonal level.
The consulting course was much about our professor who was talking during the classes and then the
students did some open discussion recapping our readings. This could become somewhat tedious
and trivial throughout the semester.
In the project Management course, our professor was much more trying to flip the class by having
the students to do presentations and the discussions rather than doing so himself. He was also very
good at inviting people from his network, all professionals, to come and give presentations or cases
for the class, which was quite popular.
Arranging your stay
Please give a short description of the process of arranging your stay:
My process was a little bit unusual as I have American citizenship and was forced to apply as an
American. Because of that I had to manually do all the application steps compared to my friend that I
traveled with. Edu.dk was the active communication link between him and the university. From both
our experiences there will always occur some problems during this process. Don’t let it impact your
motivation.
What resources did you find helpful in planning your stay and which people did you use (if any)?
I went to a meeting that was arranged by Kilroy Travels. They have great experience with sending
people abroad to study and can supply you with leaflets that include information on everything from
financial questions to very practical information such as accommodation and what to bring. During
the meeting they will also answer any personal questions that you might have.
I ended up buying my flight ticket through them. I would not recommend them for this as the tickets
are not flexible at all. This is a bad thing if you suddenly decide you want to change departure dates
during your stay. Many of my fellow students changed dates. Also, they were impossible to get in
contact with as they have no 24h hotline and I critically needed their help at one time during
nighttime in DK (midday on Hawaii).
How did you arrange practicalities such as accommodation?
I would not recommend anyone to book accommodation for the whole travel period from back
home. This is based on the fact that images and information can be deceiving. In other words, you
are not sure of what you get unless you visit the actual apartment, dorm, etc. before signing any
long-term contract.
Instead, I booked a hostel for the first week, which gave me time to find an apartment close to
Waikiki (the touristy part of Honolulu) as I discovered, when I got there, that it was the place to live!
Be alerted that it can be difficult to find an apartment in Waikiki if you get there late according to the
beginning of the semester. Many other new students will be looking at the same time so be sure to
browse the internet early every morning and often. I used Craigslist.com to find most of the potential
rentals. It works just like dba.dk.
Expenses and Financing
Please comment on expenses connected to your stay abroad
First of all, I must say it is expensive to live on Hawaii. Renting an apartment in Waikiki is at least the
same price as renting an apartment in Copenhagen. I recommend getting a bigger apartment with
another person but most places in Waikiki are studios apartments which don’t have separate rooms,
so be patient if you want to find a place with more rooms. Maybe also look a little bit outside the
borders of Waikiki. I ended up getting a 3 room apartment with my friend just outside of Waikiki. The
good thing was that it was cheap compared to other student’s rentals. We paid $1400/month. The
downside was that it was unfurnished. This is something that you should avoid as it will be costly to
furnish it – even if you try to do it with inexpensive stuff l, like we did. We learned the hard way. The
best investment we did however, was to buy used mopeds to get around on. It gives you much more
flexibility, as the public transportation is a mess. At the end of the trip it was easy to sell them again
on Craigslist.com and we almost got the whole amount back in full.
Did you apply for scholarships and would you recommend any ones in particular?
I did apply for a few of the bigger scholarships but ended up not receiving any even though I used the
book ‘Legathåndbogen’ to optimize my applications. Still, I would recommend at least to apply for
the scholarships offered by Nordeafonden and OticonFonden as a minimum.
Applying for ‘Rejsepuljen’ which is ITU’s internal financial support program is also well worth the
time. However, only a limited number of students can be granted the support per semester – so
apply as early as possible.
Recommendations for other students:
I have found that a study abroad experience is so much more giving if you are being open-minded to
your surroundings. It might seem unnecessary to mention, but if you make a big effort in taking the
first step yourself to seek out new friendships throughout the stay, you will automatically end up
with so many unique experiences.
Happy traveling/studying 