SRJC bid farewell to eight Swedish exchange students with a graduation ceremony in the Bertolini Student Center April 25. The students and their host families celebrated their five-week stay in the states with a spread of traditional Swedish dishes, speeches and goofy performances.

The trip to Santa Rosa concluded a three-year entrepreneur and business program for the Boras, Sweden natives. Sven Eriksonsygmnaiest, the students’ school back home, is in its 10th year of offering this exchange program, which gives participants a fresh perspective on worldwide business.

Although the good-byes were bittersweet, the graduation attendees were treated to enjoyable festivities including a performance of the Chicken Dance and the Macarena put on by the students. Memorable speeches including program heads Peg Saragina and Lisa Beach and SRJC president Dr. Frank Chong helped the exchange families to reflect on how much both sides of the arrangement benefited from the experience.

Signs as simple as the looks on the prospective entrepreneurs’ faces gave away how rewarding the trip was for the exchange students. Johan Fritz described it as, “Some of the best weeks of my life.”

His peer Amelia Berdahl said, “I absolutely loved it. It was so nice to see all of my hard work pay off. We in the program have been looking forward to this trip for years.”

“I learned so much,” said Sebastian Hammarberg, “Business in America is so much larger than in Sweden and it gave me a whole new perspective to work with. It was also nice to brush up on my speaking and understanding of the English language.”

Both the program leaders and the students seem satisfied that our Swedish visitors will be returning to their native country with improved business skills, a fresh perspective on the variations of markets across the globe and many fond memories.