Elite athlete student's Metropolia blog

Annika, a 26-year-old working Master's student and volleyball player: I have always enjoyed all kinds of sports and, in addition to volleyball, I also played ice hockey and soccer as a child. I also play padel and badminton to varying degrees. Besides volleyball, I spend almost all my free time in the summer playing beach volleyball at Hietaniemi beach. You could say that I identify very strongly as a competitive athlete, as I spend the most time on it throughout the year. Volleyball as a Sport I started playing volleyball at the age of 6, inspired by my mother and older brother. Playing volleyball and team sports teach children very important group and leadership skills, which are still useful today, for example, in work and study life. Through volleyball and beach volleyball, I have also made many friends. Although teams have changed over the years, friendships have remained. Volleyball is a very tactical and technical sport. There is always something to learn, even after 18 years of playing. Although basic skills can be learned at a young age, development never stops, and skills are honed to perfection, which may never be fully achieved. Every opponent is different, and you have to adapt very quickly to what the opponent is doing in the games. Volleyball also requires mental strength, as your individual performance must be at a high level if you want to succeed in games. These pressures must be endured from match to match. Master's Studies at Metropolia Outside of volleyball, I work in training and developing patient information systems. After working for the two years required for Master's studies, I started exploring further study opportunities through Opintopolku. I knew I was interested in all forms of digitalization, but I didn't know what universities of applied sciences had to offer. I found a Master's program in digital services expertise in the social and health sector offered by Metropolia. After reading more about this program, it was actually quite easy for me to choose this program. It had everything I hoped for in further studies. Scheduling I started my studies in the fall of 2023, and in addition to this, I have been working between 80-100% of full-time hours. It goes without saying that combining competitive sports, studies, and work has sometimes been challenging. Although there are enough hours in the day to accomplish everything, it is also important to remember to rest, recover, and maintain a social life. A typical week often includes a normal workday, 6-7 training sessions, a game day, and school assignments. Due to my day job, I often cannot attend lectures. In this program, it has been particularly important to me that I can advance my studies on my own time, as all lectures can be recorded and watched later. Additionally, all lectures are remote, which greatly eases a busy schedule. There have been some group assignments, and I have been able to complete some of them by juggling my own schedules. However, sometimes it has been impossible to complete group work due to scheduling challenges, and in such cases, teachers have offered the possibility of taking exams, which has suited my situation well. Study Support at Metropolia In the program, the ideation and planning of the thesis start very early, which gives more time to work on it. My thesis supervisor has been very understanding about the progress of the work but constantly encourages and guides me to keep working on the thesis. I am satisfied with the guidance also from the perspective that students are required to make progress despite competitive sports or other things that may slow it down. However, I have chosen to combine competitive sports and studies, and I should not expect to get a lot of relief from study-related matters. As a competitive athlete, I must accept that I may not be able to graduate on time if I want to take care of my mental well-being during my studies. Therefore, it has been reassuring to know that studies can be done more at my own pace, keeping certain deadlines in mind. Factors for Endurance Many people ask me how I manage to study, work, and compete in sports at the same time. As strange as it sounds, playing volleyball helps me cope with everyday life. When you love the sport you get to play every day, everyday life doesn't feel heavy. Of course, constant communication with my coach, supervisor, and tutor teacher is also central. An athlete must also recognize when to lighten training and when to take a whole day off from training. I have also found that clear scheduling of when I do school assignments helps me. You need to find the methods that work best for you. It is very important for an athlete to have a support network to rely on in difficult times, and I am grateful for mine. Greetings to Applicants Competitive sports and this program fit very well together because the studies are completely remote and all lectures are recorded. So, if you can't attend a lecture due to work or a competition trip, you can delve into the week's topics better on a day off. There aren't many lectures, but more independent work is done. In terms of group work, it is good to be prepared in advance that you will likely have to take more exams if your training and competition schedule does not allow for group work. And if you do group work, you need to invest just as much in it, whether you are a competitive athlete or not. However, I definitely recommend further studies so that there is something to do after a sports career. It is also worth exploring scholarship options, for example, from the URA-Foundation.