Study and Stay in Turku
On 11 November we had the chance to participate in the event Study and stay in Turku. It took place at the Joki visitor and innovator center. This event was a fair for foreign students residing in Turku.
I will first explain how things went and then I will give my opinion.
First of all we visited the fair, there were various interesting stands such as innovative start-up.
For exemple the start Up Osaamis. They designed a smart robot to learn a new language. As a little anecdote, the lady told us that she really is a child to be watched because when you don’t take care of him, for example, he may fall off a table.
Here it is:
The second start-up we saw is an application to know our neighbors. It made me smile because it’s very Finnish to have to use apps to meet their neighbors. But i's funny.
There were also stands that presented student associations, it was interesting to know more organizations to turn to.
And the rest of the stands were private or public Finnish schools. So not verey interesting for us.
The second part of the evening, first consisted of a discussion with different speakers. It was more like an interview of 3 different people.
The common point of these speakers is they were all exchange student and they came in Finland to worked or studied.
One of these speakers was Evariste Habiyakare.
He came in finland in 1989 to study at TUAS. Now he is an associate professor. He said that the finland of today is not the same as before, there wasn't internet, social media.
He has adviced to us several things :
- find a field that interest us
-feed us with knowlegdes, the most as possible.
-Follow well our course to developp lots of skills.
-Try to contact potential companies before the end of our study.
-Learn about the Finnish culture, try to be more close to Finnish student, create a network.
He finished with this sentence :
"Society won’t adapt to us, but we have to adapt to it."
An other speakers was Esther Kreutz, she is a project coordinator. She is originally come from Germany. She studied there low and communication. She stated in Finland with an internship of 6 months and after she has worked in a Finnish company during 12 years because she was very motivated about the project the values of the company about sustainability.
She has adviced to us :
-stay motivated during searching an internship
-be hardworking
- work a lot on CV and cover letter.
-persist : step by step
-Find the areas that your are very interested
-Try to meet people
-speak with professional
Presenters also provided advice, like to try to do sauna with Finnish people. And they said that they are lots of opportunities in Finland.
"In life, one must dare."
The last speaker was Peter Zettings, he's teacher at the university of Turku.
He teaches the business international strategies. He come from Austria.
He explained to us his story and the choices he had to come to study abroad why he chose Finland. What was the intended consequences & unintended consequences of this choice. He analyse and took the best option.
He explained why he fall in love to this country. It was an emotional time...
"I feel in love with this country, the people, their humbleness, honest and hard work.
I found the low level power distance and flat hierachies astonishing.
Achievement was generally more important that ascription."
To finnish he has given us lots of precious advices :
-Ponder on what you really want
-You have to also build your own self : who am I ? what makes me happy?
-The social environment is something you have create by yourself.
-We all live in bubbles, it's better to live in your own
-Do every day something that might be uncomfortable.
-Be bold.
"Opportuities exist anywhere, but you need to build them"
About my opinion :
First of all concerning the organization of the event, it is very well organized, the volunteers were available, there were many sponsors, we even allowed ourselves to contact some for our event. The venue was well organized and there was a quality buffet and a professional photographer. We were very fortunate that it was free.
Concerning the first part of the event: the exhibition with the different stands. There were few diversified stands and many private or public Finnish schools so not very interesting for us. I’d rather have more of a booth about tips and a good place to live in Turku.
Finally, concerning the discussion part with the professionals, this is what I preferred. The speakers were very charismatic, they gave valuable advice, it was very enriching. Their words were very motivating, they sent us full of positive waves and beautiful energy.
It’s a real chance to meet inspiring people!
