“I did my exchange semester at Metropolia Business School in 2023. I was sure that I wanted to go to a Nordic country and I had the choice between universities in Finland and in Sweden. I had been in Finland once for one week for an exchange from school. In the end it was easy to choose Helsinki as it is a bigger city and there are a lot of things going on. It was clear that I wanted to choose Metropolia and luckily it worked out.
I really liked my studies at Metropolia. I felt that everything was so structured from the beginning on and I had no questions. The Finnish course was my favorite. I tried to learn some Finnish word before arriving but that didn’t go so well so it was nice to learn the language. The course was also introducing us to the Finnish culture. Investment Portfolio Management was my second favorite course. We did a stock exchange game and I learned a lot in that course. I really liked that we had a lot of group works. There were no exam periods and it was not so stressful in the end of the semester. We had to work during the whole semester and had a lot of chances to get the points during the semester which took off a lot of pressure. I really liked the campus; everything was so modern and nice. There was a lot of spaces to work and sit with your friends. The student restaurant on campus is like a meeting point, you always met someone there. I also really liked the orientation days; they were very structured and we didn’t get lost in the first days.
During my free-time I did a lot of small things in Helsinki. I went to a lot of cafés with my friend and also visited different places, such as Lammassaari which was one of my favorites. We also went for a lot of walks and did some hikes in the national park Nuuksio and even barbecued there. I went a lot to sauna, Sompasauna was an amazing place. There was also a lot of student parties and they were so nice with the overalls. I also did some special trips; they were the highlight of my time there. We went to Lapland where we stayed in a cottage, went to Norway, swam in the Arctic Ocean, saw Northern lights and went skiing. That was an amazing adventure! In the Easter weekend we rented a cottage in Varkaus for a few days. This was also so nice, we did a lot of chilling, hanging out and walks there. One highlight was the Vappu (May 1st) weekend. The city was full of people and there were a lot of traditions we got to participate into. Tutors were great. We had always someone to talk to and it felt like everyone wanted us to meet other people and connect. It was nice to have a lot of events going on and it was possible to get to know people easily.
The Finnish culture was very similar to what I’m used to so I did not have major problems adjusting. At the beginning of the exchange, it was a big challenge to come to Finland alone. I was afraid that I wouldn’t find any people but we had such an intense time here together. It’s crazy that people that I met just five months ago are now so close to me. It was not a big problem to live in a different country with a different language. It just worked out somehow and all the fears turned to very good adventures. It has been good to have changes around you and doing the exchange gave me a lot of self-confidence. I got a lot of memories and friends, it’s hard to say goodbye to everyone. In the future I definitely want to do a Master’s degree and it would be nice to do the whole degree or a semester abroad. I would like to experience this kind of adventure again.”
Tips from Nina:
- Be very open to everyone
- Do as many things as possible: experience the country!
- Don’t be afraid to make new contacts and talk to people, most of the time everyone is in the same boat
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