Studying in Finland: What it’s really like

Studying abroad

Studying abroad that’s what many school graduates dream of. It literally brings your life upside down, starting with a different language you are studying on and finishing with a full immersion into a totally different culture. For me, all these things of course are important, but for now there is something else that probably stands above them all — the quality of knowledge I can get in a foreign university. To be honest, Russian education has never fulfilled my requirements of what we call a “good education”, neither secondary nor higher. Having heard a lot about Finnish education and the style of teaching, I immediately decided to apply to several universities; the study program ‘Business Administration’ attracted me as well. Lucky enough, the summer 2015 I received this little letter of happiness: MAMK acceptance letter. In a couple of months I was standing right in the central square of Mikkeli, and the sun pleasantly warming my skin. I expected everything here to be, let’s say, exhilarating, and it turned out to be so.

Business Administration is the best choice for a Bachelor specialization, in my humble opinion. In the very first year of studying it we get a brief inside look in almost all the major subjects that the program consists of. Later on, we are given the opportunity to decide ourselves, which one attracted us most, and choose the additional subjects to support the further learning extension and skills development. Honestly speaking, I have succeeded quite well during this year; however this doesn’t mean that everything was that easy. Something have been going very smoothly and without any specific time dedicated to revising, like Finnish language; something, on the contrary, required additional effort in trying to get the whole thing, like financial accounting. All in all, I should say that I’m highly satisfied with what I’ve learned, how I’ve learned it and how much effort I’ve put in my studies this year.

Although the study program is held in English, we are obliged to learn Finnish. At least till the level A2. Unless you would like to continue your extensive Finnish studies and take the course which is even taught in Finnish. I decided not to. Not because I don’t like learning languages,  I do, but Finnish doesn’t seem that much important for me now. I like the lessons, I pretty much like the vocabulary and grammar, which is so different from most of the languages, that sometimes my mind just blows up and asks “Why would you do this to me?!” Yet it haven’t been so tough to get my brain understand it and learn. Everything comes with time, I decided, and my Finnish skills are not an exception.

Talking about Finland as a country, it is needless to say that it really is different from Russia, where I was born and have spent my life until I came to Mikkeli. I can say that I feel myself different here, probably because of people, manners, attitudes, smells, air, and lots of other little things that might not seem so important to mention here, however they are the ones that make me slightly a different person when combined together. People here are so much ‘warmer’ than I am used to see in my home country. Will you ever expect a random Russian girl or woman to give you a smile simply because you passed her by? No way is she going to do that. Not like the Finnish young lady, who beamed at me in the street yesterday sunny morning and made it even much sunnier and warmer.

I’ve heard quite a lot of times the questions that aroused from my acquaintances: “It’s so boring there in Finland, what will you do there in your free-time?” Generally, people who asked that sort of questions have been to Finland like most of the Russians do: for 1–2 days, mostly for shopping. I never thought of anything like this, for I was coming to Mikkeli with a friend, who appeared to be my roommate at the same time. It didn’t take us much time to settle down together, and at the very first barbeque party we got to know almost everybody who attended it. People in our study group were all pretty nice, extremely friendly and easy-going, and, despite separating sometimes into smaller groups to hang out, we are still a team, which I value a lot. We also realized soon that here there’s no need to go to restaurants or bars or whatsoever that often to have fun. A good mixture of movie evenings, nice around-the-city walks and some parties;  that’s what makes it all up here.

So what are we craving for most here in Mikkeli? I would say simply:seeing the world. Lucky enough, I have met two amazing girls, who happened to become very close friends of mine. And I feel even more lucky whenever I hear one of them saying: “Hey, shall we arrange on a trip, let’s say, Helsinki — Amsterdam — Budapest?” I smile because, seriously, what can be more important and exhilarating than to have people who you can share your dreams and life goals with? Honestly saying, I am that type of traveler who is in love with one-minute decisions that end up with an exploration of a place you’ve never thought about going to. All I ever need is a flight ticket, something that gives me a chance to see the world as much as I can. What I’ve learnt from my trips (and here comes a tip that you might all know but never actually dared to fulfill),  never be afraid to go to a new place, to hire a car and explore a bit on your own, to speak some local language even if you are not always correct, even to get lost and have fun while seeking your way out. Always give something new a try. Don’t stick to one place you’ve liked, don’t keep coming there year by year. The main thing is to try new, because you’ll never know what it’s like unless you take a little risk.

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