“I did my exchange semester at Metropolia in the autumn semester 2022, in the field of Health Care and Social Work. I study occupation therapy back at my home university PXL university College. We had a lot of countries to choose from and most of my fellow students wanted to go to Africa but Finland was the number one destination for me. I love Nordic countries but I had never been there before so I wanted to explore the country. I’m also a rower and there are a lot of lakes in Finland so I thought I could keep doing my hobby in a very cool environment. Before I even applied to Metropolia I downloaded Duolingo and practiced a lot of Finnish.
I did a placement internship at Metropolia, so I didn’t do actual courses. First two months of being in Finland I had a lot of free time and I was writing my thesis. In October my internship started at the HyMy Village on Metropolia’s Myllypuro campus. The concept is really great and we were also given the chance to work on our own ideas. I’m used to having one placement at a time but here we had like five different projects and the variation during the placement was very nice. I got to work with Finnish students and Finnish patients and in the end learned a lot of Finnish. Teachers were very nice and approached us as colleagues.
At school
During my free time I went to the gym and to rowing practice. I also participated to events organized by tutors and did different activities with other exchange students, such as playing board games in Oodi and went for a dinner. I also got very close with my tutor, we were meeting weekly to do winter swimming. I’m so thankful for her! Unfortunately, I missed the HOAS apartment application deadline so I had to search an apartment on my own. I lived together with two other people and was very happy about the accommodation.
Playing boardgames in the Oodi library
I made a lot of new friends from around the world and learned a bit of the Finnish mindset. People in Finland are more relaxed and take more time for coffee, sauna, walking and being in the nature. I feel connected to Finland and could imagine living here in the future! Maybe in the future I could become and entrepreneur and return to Finland through that. I loved everything in here!”
Rowing practice
Tips from Dakota:
- Be flexible: you will go out of your comfort zone and not everything will be nice. Being flexible makes it easier.
- Explore the nature and the surroundings in Finland
- Visit Lapland
At the city center
2 Comments
What factors influenced your decision to choose Finland as your exchange destination for your field of Health Care and Social Work, despite having a variety of countries to choose from? How did your passion for rowing contribute to your interest in exploring Finland, and how did you prepare for your exchange experience, including learning the Finnish language?
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