UTM students embark on ‘transformative’ trip to the land of fire and ice

Nyah Massey didn’t expect to find herself standing in the city of Reykjavik staring up in awe as she watched a colourful light display dance across the Nordic sky. It was, after all, the rainy season, and she was in the middle of a well-lit city. She had no expectation of witnessing the Northern Lights.

“We were all speechless,” she recalls.

Massey, a fourth-year biology (health sciences) and management student, was taking part in a UTM Abroad trip earlier this fall with her professor and some of her classmates in the management program. They were in Iceland to connect with business leaders, see their class lessons come to life and explore the unique landscape.

“It was like a bucket list experience,” says Massey, who describes the overall trip as “transformative.”

It’s the first time UTM Abroad, a program that launched in 2016 to provide faculty-led international experiences during reading weeks, has included Iceland on its list of 20 destinations. This fall was also the first time since the pandemic started that the program has hosted any trips abroad.

Management professor Soo Min Toh chose Iceland to give students an opportunity to focus on organizational behaviour, visit Nordic companies and experience not only the culture and business environment in Iceland, but also the landscape. The director of UTM’s Institute for Management & Innovation, Toh previously taught at Reykjavik University in Iceland.

“Iceland is aspirational,” she says, referring to a commitment to sustainability and explaining the culture and business environment are unique and not well known by students.

Massey first heard about the trip from an email she received over the summer about UTM Abroad opportunities.

“It was an entirely new experience for me,” says Massey, who has always travelled with family or friends before. While this was a group trip, she didn’t have any friends who were taking part. “I was like, I’m ready to experience something completely unknown and challenging and new to me.”

Students met with leaders from various walks of life – including those from a social enterprise, high-tech start up, the government and a large multinational – gaining firsthand insight. They toured a workplace and factory and there was a networking component built into the itinerary. Excursions throughout Iceland to take in what Massey referred to as “breathtaking” scenery were also included.

Massey says the experience gave her a feel for the different areas of the business world in Iceland.

“We talk a lot about how … different cultures might run their businesses differently and interact with their employees differently,” she says. “It was very cool to be able to be placed in a culture and actually see how it is (and) experience it firsthand as opposed to just reading about it or watching a video.”

She adds that she enjoyed taking what she had learned in class about leadership and speaking to the managers who do it.

For fourth-year finance specialist Justin Eide, Iceland was a place he always wanted to visit. He heard about the trip after enrolling in Toh’s fourth-year class Managing Global Organizations. “Immediately I was like, I want to do this.”

He says it’s the first time he experienced a culture that’s different from the ones he grew up around.

What stood out most for Eide was meeting a business leader from Iceland’s largest food processing plant, MAREL, who was about four years ahead of students in their career. “It was nice to see someone who understands where we come from and is almost in the same position,” Eide says.

And, of course, another highlight for both students – and the entire group – was seeing the Northern Lights. It was an unplanned and pleasant surprise near the end of the trip.

“We all ran out to stare at the sky,” Eide recalls.

While Toh’s students travelled to Iceland, other groups visited Italy (to explore food and fashion), France (to take in the culture) and Ecuador (to study birds).

The various week-long trips not only help bring case studies to life, they also provide students with a personal development opportunity, says Gilbert Lin, assistant director of intercultural and global initiatives with UTM’s International Education Centre.

“It’s great for those who can’t do traditional, longer-term experiences,” he says, noting there are bursaries available to help make UTM Abroad experiences as financially accessible as possible.

Both Eide and Massey encourage their fellow students to consider a UTM Abroad experience.

“I learned so much on a personal level and an intellectual level,” Massey says. “The actual experience you get will be one-of-a-kind. You’ll never get to experience that again. I would say just to do it.”