Tekijä: Metropolia Exchange Bloggers
International opportunities at Metropolia from a student’s perspective
Hi! My name is Augusto Asis de Barros, and I’m a student of International Business and Logistics and worked as an International Relations intern at Metropolia. During my studies at Metropolia, I had the opportunity to participate in various international exchanges in Germany and the Netherlands, which I discovered while exploring Metropolia's internal announcements website. Applying for the exchanges was easy and required little effort, since the instructions for mobility are straightforward to understand and cover all the most important requirements. The first exchange I had the chance to go on was for a summer course in 2023, related to Industrial Heritage and Sustainability. It was a joint programme of the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH), the Berlin Centre of Industrial Culture (bzi), and the Berlin University of Applied Sciences (HTW). This exchange helped me network with people from different backgrounds and cooperate to develop a concept or project related to both industrial heritage and sustainability. It was an experience full of learning, teamwork, and also a nice way to explore a big city like Berlin while learning together and visiting different sites related to industrial heritage, sustainability, and culture. The exchange program helped me gain valuable knowledge and sparked my interest in industrial heritage. As a result, I co-founded a network for young professionals, which is now part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. I feel like going on exchange opened the doors not only to new opportunities but also to career development and gave me a push to step out of my comfort zone, which, in my opinion, was very positive. Now, back in Finland, I continue to manage this non-profit network alongside my colleagues from Germany, which demonstrates how international mobility can help you become part of something bigger. Another exchange opportunity I had was a summer course in 2023 about innovative and sustainable transportation in Germany, from FH Münster University of Applied Sciences. In this course, we were a group of many local and international students and traveled around different German cities like Bremen, Hamburg, and Berlin, where we visited many transportation industries. We learned how to use many different tools to become more creative and to learn about sustainability from different perspectives. I feel like going on exchange opened the doors not only to new opportunities but also to career development and gave me a push to step out of my comfort zone, which, in my opinion, was very positive. I have built many close friendships through international experience, which made me even more positive about the importance of traveling to other countries for study opportunities. Studying abroad made me more open to learning new things, socializing and it also contributed a lot to my cross-cultural and teamwork skills. The last but not least international course I had was the hybrid course called the U!REKA Change Agents Programme, which took place in 2024 and had both online sessions and a short exchange in the city of Amsterdam at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. U!REKA is an Urban Research and Education Alliance of European Universities of Applied Sciences, and they aim to cooperate to educate to contribute to a more inclusive, sustainable, intercultural and open-minded Europe. This programme was especially interesting because of its ambition to help us students develop sustainable development ideas related to the use of water in Europe. We had the chance to visit different sustainability-related facilities around Amsterdam, and these visits gave us a broader idea of sustainability and how Amsterdam approaches the use of water. We not only met people from many universities but also had the chance to become closer in our group of students from Finland. We also explored the city by bike, which was a new and valuable experience because Amsterdam has an amazing cycling infrastructure. The internationality of the city, how it is full of water channels and the many restaurants were things we enjoyed as a group. Also, having the chance to learn from professionals from other universities was different and helped us understand more aspects of water and sustainability, and the different importance it has in other countries. Overall, I highly encourage other students to explore international exchange opportunities offered by the university. These experiences can truly change the way you learn and understand the world. They are also a great way to expand your professional network, make new friends and learn about different cultures. Check more about the exchange possibilities in Metropolia's study guide!
Exchange semester at University of Hertfordshire
Hello, my name is Anna. I’m currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, with a strong emphasis on Human Resources. Having grown up immersed in both Finnish and English cultures, I’ve come to deeply appreciate the richness of multicultural environments. From an early age, I’ve been passionate about broadening my horizons and embracing new places as home. Living abroad has not only expanded my worldview but also offered valuable opportunities for self-reflection and growth, shaping both who I am and the dreams I pursue. I was excited to see the range of relevant courses offered at the University of Hertfordshire and decided to apply for an Erasmus exchange for the spring semester of 2025. Having previously studied abroad in both the United States and Germany, I was eager to continue gaining international experience—this time in the United Kingdom, a country where I already had personal connections and whose language I consider my second native tongue. It’s truly hard to put five months of living your dream life into words. My exchange semester was everything I had hoped for—and so much more. I was surprised by how significantly the academic experience shaped my future career goals. While I already had a fairly strong vision of what I wanted to pursue after graduation, studying my passion abroad took that clarity and motivation to a whole new level. "This was easily the best semester of my university journey, and it left me feeling deeply grateful and privileged to have had such a transformative experience. " What I particularly appreciated about the academic culture in the UK was how genuinely supportive and invested the teachers were in their students' success. At my home university, I had rarely felt as included or inspired, even by lecturers I saw on a weekly basis. Every module I took encouraged me to grow, believe in myself, and chase my goals with even more determination. Thanks to this incredible experience, I’m proud to share that I achieved First Class Honours and even received personal recommendation letters from lecturers who truly believed in me. Even though the university culture was already a highlight of the semester, the people I met were an even greater blessing. I lived in university accommodation with ten other students in the same flat. Having lived on my own for the past four years, I was initially a bit skeptical about sharing a space with people I didn’t know. Yet to my surprise, this ended up being the best part of my entire exchange. I formed genuine friendships with my flatmates, and we quickly became incredibly close. We spent time together almost every day—cooking dinners, sharing our cultures, going on weekend trips and, of course, enjoying the UK’s iconic pub culture. I felt truly seen and understood by people who shared similar perspectives and values. The memories we created will forever hold a special place in my heart, and we’re already planning visits to keep this special friendship alive. Living in another country also gave me the space to reflect and grow as a person. I picked up new hobbies and made the most of the incredible services and opportunities offered by the university. I also had the chance to travel extensively within the UK—exploring Scotland, Wales, and several cities across England. After my classes ended, I even spent two weeks traveling to Shanghai and Vietnam, which felt especially surreal after forming deep friendships with people from all over the world. Although living abroad was certainly more expensive than continuing my studies in Helsinki – I felt the most alive since my teenage years and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. If you’re even considering going abroad for a semester, I wholeheartedly encourage you to take the leap. Yes, there will be challenging days, and stepping outside of your comfort zone can feel overwhelming at first. But the growth, memories, and perspective you gain are far greater than anything you might expect. This was easily the best semester of my university journey, and it left me feeling deeply grateful and privileged to have had such a transformative experience.
Erasmus+ Inclusion Support enabled me to join the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) in Portugal!
The story about student exchange was almost unrealistic for me. I am single mom of three kids. However, my oldest child is already 18 and my two small boys are living with me. Me and Robin started studying in the same year. I started with bachelor program in International Business and Logistics (IBL) at Metropolia, and he went to first grade at school. My youngest one was five years old in those days. The idea about being an exchange student was a personal long-lasting dream, but somehow I felt it is not applicable for me. For me it was way too complicated to change a country, especially when having a lot of responsibilities at home already. Time went fast... Kids become more confident and I tried to apply for 6 months study exchange in Spain. The reason for choosing this country – I speak Spanish a little and would like to improve knowledge and get another European perspective to my study field. However, I was already doing my final study year and long-term exchange did not anymore fit into my degree study plan. So, the exchange was not a possibility at that time and would have postponed my graduation. Then the idea sort of faded away, until on one day I got an email about FinBank challenge in Portugal, Blended Intensive Programme about Banking and Finance study with Setúbal Polytechnic Institute! The program promised to be intensive and during one week in Portugal should be presented innovation for banking sector related to design thinking and creativity. Additionally, we were able to meet with students from all over Europe online. I applied and got selected! I have been so lucky when Erasmus+ programme and International Relations Adviser in Metropolia nominated me as exchange student for this programme. That really meant a lot for me! Without funding from Erasmus+ Blended Mobility I couldn’t have been able to cover the expenses of travelling and living on top of my family's other expenses. Our intensive finance course in Setúbal was held in May 2024. A great value is that Erasmus+ programme supports students with families with additional inclusion support. This made me feel that Metropolia cares about young parents a lot. My total financial support was almost 1200 euros as I was entitled for the inclusion support, travel grant and the program day support! This is really good form of support, if you know how to take care of the arrangements correctly! This BIP about Finance was well organized by Portuguese colleagues. Professor Ana Rolo from Setúbal Polytechnic Institute provided each student team very good guidance. So, even though my major, Logistics sector is not that much finance and banking-oriented, but it was not difficult to get in to idea and join the team work and start learning! Getting ready for an adventure! From Metropolia we traveled to Portugal together in a group of five Metropolia Business School students. In the actual group work project, there were students from Norway, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania and Belgium. Luckily, we quickly divided the tasks and got really motivated about the topic. Actually, our project was successfully completed one day before deadline. All in all, I was able to gather many lovely experiences from Portugal as the Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal created an amazing program for the students. For example, we visited Palácio da Bacalhôa located in São Simão, Azeitão, Setúbal, wine and cultural tour, went to some nice beaches by the ocean and even a natural park. Our lunch was in a most beautiful restaurant of the city - Casa da Baía. The communication with professors was smooth as we were able to ask questions, but also the work in the group of students was highly enriching and brought some new perspectives! All in all, a brilliant experience from Erasmus+ programme. I’m so thankful for International Relations Adviser and exchange possibilities at Metropolia. Because of them - I could see the ocean. Last but not least; Many greetings to my teammates who make amazing effort on presentation day! Tips based on my experience: Learn all the possible languages Touch an ocean wave and make a wish Choose the most interesting exchange programme for you. Make it happen! Julia S.
Incoming Student Story: Nina Schulz from Germany
“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
Incoming Student Story: Marie Lac from France
“I spent one whole academic year at Metropolia doing a double degree exchange. Metropolia and my home university Rennes School of Business have an agreement for this kind of exchange. One of the reasons I chose my home university was because I saw that there is a possibility to go to Finland. In France everybody says that the studies are very good and that life is better in the Nordic countries. I though I will just go to Finland myself and see if it’s true or not. I did a bit of basic research on Finland before my arrival and I found out things like there’s a lot of forest in Finland, it’s the happiest country and that people drink a lot of coffee. One reason to choose Metropolia was also the international dimension of the studies. Studying at Metropolia has been really nice and I’m really happy with my studies. The courses are very interactive and teachers are friendly so it has been easy to learn. Project group works and simulations are different than what I’m used to but at the same time perfect ways to learn. The best thing about my studies have been the people, teachers and students. I could always ask the teachers if I had any questions and they were very supportive. I met a lot of students from different countries and enjoyed how international it was. All of my studies took place on the Myyrmäki campus. I was really happy with the student restaurant: warm meals were really good, healthy and cheap. Also, the campus library is really nice, there are lots of books and also silent rooms which I used for writing my bachelor thesis. In my free-time I did some traveling in Finland and abroad. I went couple of times to Estonia and in Finland I visited some bigger cities. I was going often outside to walk and see the architecture of the city but also the nature and the forest. I went a lot to the forest and I feel like in Finland I reached a better connection with the environment and I felt always safe. I lived in an Airbnb apartment and was able to walk to school. We were also able to barbecue in the forest barbecue place, that was very fun even though the fire was hard to start. The weather in the winter was a bit hard but if you have good clothes, it’s fine. It was not hard to adapt to the culture but it’s a bit different and you have to understand that some things are done differently. I was surprised in a good way about the Finnish people. On the Internet it says that Finnish people are cold and reserved. In fact, when I came here, I found them really open and people were willing to help in English. Everyone is living their own life: you won’t be disturbed but if you need, you’re supported. During my exchange something changed in my mind and I would like to live in the future somewhere else than in France. During the exchange you learn to see the world from a different angle.” Tips from Marie: Buy winter clothes second-hand in Finland. There are a lot of second-hand stores in Finland and you can buy warm enough winter clothes from them without having to spend a lot of money. Get to know what kind of things are around you and ask people what they like to do and where they like to go. Don’t be afraid of talking to people. Helsinki is a really international city and you will find help everywhere.
Incoming Student Story: Chiara Galvani from Italy
“I spent one academic year at Metropolia doing my exchange in the field of culture, degree programme in Music. Finland was just my third option as I am a warm weather person but I got accepted to Metropolia and I decided to go anyway. It was a chance to do an experience in a place where I did not expect going. I had been dreaming of going abroad since I was a kid so I backed a few jumpers and came to Finland. Metropolia was the only option for me that had pop and jazz in their selection and that’s why I chose Metropolia. In the end I’m super glad that I ended up here. I started to prepare by trying to learn the language a bit. I studied pop and jazz performance and voice. Teaching and techniques at Metropolia are very different from my own conservatory in Italy. In Italy, conservatories are very theoretical. As Metropolia is a university of applied sciences, I felt difference from the beginning on. Students are helped more and we got concrete exercises. You get homework and it’s checked if you’re doing it. I think it’s good to be guided because it helps me. I noticed from the beginning on that level of people in Finland was higher than at home. We had a lot of possibilities to practice at school, we could book rooms and stay in the evenings to practice. The rooms were well equipped. It was mind-blowing that every room had everything, such as guitar amps and drums. We had a lot of performances during the whole academic year. That is the right way to do it, that’s how people learn to perform. I had two concerts during the first semester and a couple of concerts in the second semester. I went to see UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra in a concert and thought it would be so nice to perform with them. I did an audition at Metropolia and got in, I was really honored to have that opportunity. I really see a difference in how I perform, I grew up a lot. The level and preparation in Finland was much higher and kicked me, it was what I needed actually. I used a lot of my free-time to practice, like most musicians. I did have time to do other things as well. I went to the city center to shop and to cafés with friends. Everything went so quick, I wish I would have gone out more to do things. I visited some cities in Finland and had nice pizza and pasta nights with the other Italian exchange students. I also went to Stockholm to Beyoncé’s concert, wow! My biggest challenge was being independent. I have always been living with my parents but I never had the chance to live on my own and I needed that to grow up. Now I feel like I have grown up and I’m proud of it. Also, I’m able to handle myself and my emotions better on my own. I had a small positive culture shock. As soon as I came here I noticed everything was more relaxed than in Italy. It made me realize how important well-being is here in Finland, that was one of the reasons I wanted to stay in Finland for a second semester.” Tips from Chiara: Even if the exchange destination was not first on your list, go! You never know what you can find. Trust yourself, you are able to do whatever you want. Taking risks sometimes pays off.
Incoming Student Story: Márton Eke from Hungary
“I did my exchange semester at Metropolia in autumn semester 2022. I studied mechanical engineering. Back in my home university Óbuda University in Hungary I study industrial product design. I had heard that Metropolia is very modern and new university and I thought it would be a great place for me. Studying at Metropolia was a bit different to how it is in my home university. The classrooms were modern and it was noticeable that every technology that we could need was available. The teachers were also very flexible and supportive. I did altogether five courses out of which one was Advanced 3D-modeling and Optimization. That class was amazing, we had every software we could need for it. From one course we also did a trip for an exhibition in Tampere for Mechanical Engineering. However, the best thing about my studies was the course Innovation Project. We got a real-life project from a company and got to see how they work. We were talking with the CEOs about the budget and their needs and got to see how everything works in the industry. We had support from the teacher and the company and it felt like proper work for the first time in my life. We were treated like engineers. Library on campus was very convenient and the student restaurant and food were amazing. I love that we could get milk for free and even freshly made hamburgers from there! In Finland card is used a lot for paying and it was only possible to pay for food with cash in the cafeteria. In Finland everybody knew English and it was wonderful. I did a Finnish course and learned some basics. Finnish people were very welcoming. Student union METKA organizes a lot of parties for students and participated to some events. This kind of student culture does not exist in Hungary. Overalls and badges are very nice and create a culture and tradition. I had a bit trouble finding an apartment as HOAS did not work out for me. In the end I found something and Erasmus+ grant was helping with the costs. I did a lot of things within Helsinki and traveled also to cities of Tampere and Porvoo. I also did a trip to Estonia. As a Hungarian who has never seen the sea it was a huge experience to on the sea. I went also to bars to play billiards. A lot of Finnish people seem to love that and singing karaoke. During the exchange I learned to live by myself and take care of myself. I got a lot of Finnish friends. Before this I didn’t have international friends so this really opened my eyes. Everybody has different opinions. Exchange also shaped my future plans. It was good for me to break out of my comfort zone and see all the possibilities. Altogether it was a life-changing experience. Tips from Márton: Plan everything beforehand! Apply for a flat early enough Watch for your financials, price level in Finland is much higher
Incoming Student Story: Tudor Suciu-Gheorghita from Romania
“I studied at Metropolia Business School for the full academic year. At first I came to Finland to do an exchange for one semester but after three days of being in Finland I decided to extend my exchange for the whole academic year as I felt at home from the beginning on. I studied one year in my home university Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi in Romania and could basically choose my exchange destination from all the countries. My dream had been to live in a Nordic country and Finland was my first choice. I wanted to see if I could live here and move permanently. I was interested in the Nordic way of living. Before arriving, I did research on the country and the systems. I chose Metropolia because it is a University of Applied Sciences and I wanted to experience a more practical training as my home university is quite theoretical. Studying at Metropolia has been different but very effective. It feels like I have learned in Metropolia more in one year than in 12 years in Greece and Romania. The difference that Metropolia has made for me professionally and personally is huge. When I look at my CV now and then, it’s a massive step. Teachers are very friendly and they really understand your point of view. They don’t tell you to do more and more but you have certain assignments and you can do them at your own pace before the deadline. You can ask the teacher and they will happily respond. A communication course I took probably made the biggest difference to me. The teacher of the course, Louise Stansfield, is an exceptional teacher with a lot of experience. She has upgraded my CV and my professionalism to a new level. The courses related to HR were also very relevant for me, especially a hotel simulation game was super awesome. The only exams I had were for the language courses I took. I also want to mention that it’s great how Finnish education system cares about its students and their mental health, this is overlooked in Balkan. Myyrmäki campus is also really amazing, it’s technologically advanced and my favorite thing was to be able to reserve rooms to be able to study in a stimulating environment. Best thing about coming here was definitely the people that I have met. Finland is the perfect place for traditional party people and also for more introverted people. I really liked traveling around Finland and also went to Tallinn and Stockholm. There is a lot of traditional student things and a lot of events. You will meet a lot of new people that are mostly like you and like to do the same things. I applied for HOAS apartment very early and was lucky to get an apartment that was 10 minutes from campus. Public transportation is also phenomenal. Having communities and clubs, such as METES (Metropolia Entrepreneur Society) and the student union METKA was completely new for me. It was a great experience and there were a lot of networking events. Tutoring programme was great and the tutors were friendly and nice people. I was surprised how open they were. Metropolia has given me a huge push to my professional portfolio and has boosted my chance to get a job. The exchange year has helped me to understand how the world really is by being in contact with people form all over the world. It has helped me to open my horizons and develop personally. Tips from Tudor Apply as early as possible for HOAS apartment. Talk to new people, get to know others. Don’t overpack. Be ready to learn a lot of new things. Be active in the academic stuff but also outside world. Focus on the studies and give it 110%, you won’t find the experiences you get at Metropolia anywhere else. Don’t be afraid of the cold and dark, it really is not so bad.
Incoming Student Story: Roos Popkema from the Netherlands
“I did my exchange semester at Metropolia in the field of culture, in media design. I had heard lots of things about Finnish education and that it’s a good place for studying and doing your exchange. I’m half Finnish from my mom’s side and because of my background I was interested in learning more about the country and it’s culture. I also wanted to experience the Finnish winter and learn more about cultures and meet different people. Studying at Metropolia has been very nice and pretty chill. The orientation days in the beginning of the exchange were very nice, it was nice to learn a little bit about the campus and get to know other students. Way of teaching has been different than I’m used to. In my home university teachers are more critical and here they will help you if you ask for it. You need take more initiative here to get feedback as well. I think it’s very nice you can plan things yourself for your studies here, so it’s pretty flexible. My favorite course, Media and Culture, contained a lot of visits to different places in the city that were related to our studies, such as the news and radio stations. It’s cool that the teachers brought us there and showed how a Finnish news station does their job. One teacher also brought us to a forest close by, we were walking around and had a potluck lunch. My studies took place on Arabia campus and I met there also often with my project groups and had lunch together. It took time to get used to a different way of teaching at Metropolia. I realized after finishing my courses that it feels like I have learned a lot but it happened differently than it would in my home country. During my free time I have visited a lot of museums and discovered parks - it’s nice to be outside now in the spring when the weather is better. I went to the city for shopping and visiting cafés. I visited also some cities in Finland, went to Tallinn and went to some parties. In the beginning of my exchange it was a bit hard for me to fit to the group. Everyone was really nice and after a while I found some friends that are also living close to me. I did not have a culture shock but I found out some things about the culture, such as that people bring their dogs everywhere and people really like coffee. I have also been learning to appreciate coffee more. I really enjoyed thrift shopping here and the overall way of thinking about sustainability which is seen in daily life in different ways. There are for example lots of vegan and vegetarian options which is great! During the dark winter I learned to appreciate the sun, I was so happy to see some sun during those dark months. Another thing that I loved are those big city rabbits that are just chilling in front of places where people live. It has been really nice to meet new people and I have a lot of new experiences. By being on your own in a new place you discover so much of yourself, what you like, what you don’t like and what you want to do in your life and how to develop in that direction. After this experience I might want to continue living on my own, I’m now so used to it and having so much freedom. Big part of the Finnish culture is being relaxed and chill, in the Netherlands life is pretty rushed and crowded. I learned to appreciate little things, being on your own, nature and developing yourself.”
Incoming Student Story: Dakota Daenen from Belgium
“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. 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. 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!” 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
Incoming Student Story: Ben Caufield from Canada
“I spent autumn semester 2022 in Metropolia doing my exchange semester. I studied in the field of Culture, in the Degree Programme in Music. I had a couple of friends who had done their exchange earlier at Metropolia. They spoke really highly of the program, country and the city so it was no-brainer for me. My home university MacEwan University has a fantastic team of international coordinators and they gave me a bunch of things to look up for, such as weather, political situation, cultural norms and language. It was very helpful in preparation for coming to Finland. Studying at Metropolia has been a good experience overall. Teachers have good knowledge to share and the atmosphere is very open. Arabia campus for the field of culture is new and it was nice to study in such a nice facility. There were a lot of rooms for students to work with what they want. Some of the courses at Metropolia were a bit different than what I’m used to. One course focused on clinics and people such as composers were brought from outside to Metropolia and we worked with them. I participated in an ensemble and that was made into a course. The best thing about my studies at Metropolia was for sure the private lessons with my instructor Tommi Rautiainen. He is a great musician a I learned a lot from him. Music students could also apply for access to the campus outside the normal opening hours which was great in order to have time for practicing. In addition, I ate at the student restaurant every day, the food was very good and also cheap. As I was a music student there were jams pretty much every day, so I was often in jams in the evenings. I was also walking a lot around the city especially before the snow fell. There were lots of events going on. I went camping in Porkkala with another international student in November and also traveled to Tallinn with a ship. Tallinn’s old city was fantastic. I didn’t really have a culture shock but I noticed that people in Finland are generally a bit more reserved than in Canada and I had to get used to that. I got to know Finnish students through jams. Teachers in Metropolia were also pretty relaxed. During my exchange I learned to live in a different culture as an outsider, that was a very valuable experience. I have to be grateful for people speaking English and dealing with misunderstandings. I would recommend the future exchange students to do as much planning as they can while they’re still at home. Stuff will go wrong and luckily, I had all the necessary information on my phone or on paper. This way you can enjoy your experience and don’t have to worry about things. In the future I would love to do more traveling, in exchange or otherwise. I would also really encourage others to do exchanges like this as it was a life-changing experience.”
Incoming Student Story: Benedikt Rothe from Germany
“I’m studying international industrial management as a dual study back at my home university HWR Berlin. I did my exchange semester at Metropolia Business School during autumn 2022. The Finnish education system has a good reputation and I wanted to check it out myself. Also, the courses that Metropolia offered for business students matched quite well with my home university’s requirements and the semester dates were fitting for the schedule of the dual study program. Studying at Metropolia has been quite different from home. I would say that studying in Finland works better for me than in Germany. I didn’t have any exams in the end of each course, but graded assignments during the semester. Being a University of Applied Sciences, Metropolia brings in the practical connection: We were not just working with the theoretical frameworks, but instead worked on case studies with connections to real companies. For me, the best thing about studying at Metropolia was the atmosphere: It’s quite informal but still respectful. This feels very friendly and open and takes away a bit of the pressure. It was also nice to work together with my classmates in different projects. I had some online classes and the organization was a bit challenging in the beginning. But throughout the semester I learned that everybody at Metropolia is always happy to help you out. In the beginning, the course enrolments were a bit of a challenge. It was not clear if I would be able to get in all the courses I wanted to. But luckily, it all worked out in the end. The campus is very well designed for the sense of community. I always used the student restaurant and sometimes came to campus just for lunch with friends. Everything is very digital and it’s easy to book rooms in the library, for example. Usually, my classes started around eleven, so I had quite relaxing mornings. Unfortunately, I was not able to take the Finnish course for exchange students, but I did try to learn some Finnish through Duolingo. It was very easy to manage with English in Finland, especially at school it worked very well. In my free-time I did a lot of different things. In the beginning of the semester the student union METKA organized a lot of events, parties, and trips. This made it easy for me to connect to many other students naturally. I became friends with my neighbors – a lot of other exchange students lived at the same place with me. We also travelled together, for example to Iceland and Lapland. I also went to the sauna in my building very often, which was new to me but I really enjoyed it! Helsinki has a lot to offer – such as the Oodi library, restaurants, and several tourist attractions. I also went to the nearby Nuuksio national park quite often. And I can say, Finland changed me a little: Before coming to Helsinki, I didn’t drink coffee at all. But studying in Finland can really make you a coffee person – The Finns love coffee! During the exchange I also learned a lot about myself and about what I want to do in life. I was able to take a step back and see which parts of my everyday life in Finland I want to include in my life back in Germany. Talking to other students who were a bit older than me, also showed me new perspectives. Seeing all the different paths that everybody had taken, encouraged me to try something new after finishing my degree and start studying landscape architecture, which has been a big interest of mine. I probably wouldn’t have made this decision without the exchange experience at Metropolia. I also learned a lot about different countries and cultures and made very good friends from all over the world. I am sure, I will take this new network with me into the future.” Tips from Benedikt: Trust your tutors – they are experts in making the most out of studying in Finland! Try to get a HOAS apartment. It’s affordable and a nice experience to live with the other exchange students. Try to connect with your neighbors – it makes organizing activities and trips so easy! Enjoy your time in Finland and don’t worry about uni too much – it will all work out in the end.
Incoming Student Story: Assumpta Siamangaba from Zambia
“My home university Lusaka College of Nursing and Midwifery and Metropolia have an agreement for an exchange programme. Students are selected based on the results and grades and I was very excited that I was one of the selected students. I had never flown in my life so traveling to Finland was very exciting. I didn’t know much about Finland beforehand but a friend of mine who had been in Finland before told me a lot of different things. Before arriving to Finland, I figured out what the time difference is and where Finland is located. I knew it’s going to be very cold and that I should prepare for that. I studied in the field of Health Care and Social Sciences and took courses from the degree programme of nursing at Metropolia. One of the courses I chose was Gerontological Nursing which was a good experience as back home we don’t learn so much about gerontology. In the courses we did simulations where we got to practice procedures in different situations. You learn a lot during the simulations and observing them! Everything related to the studies was clearly organized in the intranet OMA. There I was able to see what I’m supposed to do for my assignments, what to do before classes and all the presentations. Myllypuro campus is very big and the labs have a lot of equipment. I ate lunch in the student restaurant and tasted different kinds of food. In the beginning it was difficult because there were a lot of different apps to use for different things but I managed! In my free-time I went outside to walk. I also did trips to Porvoo and Joensuu. In Joensuu I got to try ice swimming and skiing. It has been amazing to see a lot of snow, this has been the first time for me seeing it. My tutor was very helpful, he also showed me a second-hand store where I could get more warm clothes. It gets dark here very early in the winter so vitamin D is important, in Zambia it’s not necessary. I would advise the future exchange students to be active: take part in class activities and in-school program. It will help to interact and to make friends and to feel like you belong.”
Incoming Student Story: Lejla Škobić from Slovenia
“I did my exchange semester during autumn 2022 at Metropolia Business School. I study management back at my home university, University of Ljubljana. I had heard a lot of positive things about Finland and was very happy to be selected to do my exchange at Metropolia. I had read about the school system and how good it is, so I wanted to try that. I also wanted to come here because of the weather and the environment, I don’t like heat so I wanted to go to the Nordic countries. I like being in the nature and even in Helsinki you can just sit in a bus and go to a forest, there’s not too much tourists. When I arrived to Finland my tutor picked me up from the airport and showed me around. She had been also in touch with me already before I arrived and gave me tips on the weather and what to bring with me. My exchange started with orientation days. They were organized well and I got all the information I needed for my time here. I loved studying at Metropolia! The study system was like made for me. I got most of my grades through assignments, research and group work. Back at home it’s more studying theory and the courses end to a final exam. The courses at Metropolia felt like they are preparing me for future work life. I needed to match half of my courses with my courses at home and the rest I could choose freely, so I decided to focus on marketing. In Digital Marketing course we focused on website creation and in Marketing Design we took photos and used Photoshop. Now in the end of the semester I feel more confident in myself as I have done things myself and feel better about the future. This semester made me feel more encouraged to do a Master’s degree in marketing! During my free-time I spent a lot of time in the nature. I went for example a lot to forests and used the campfire sites to make fire for sausages and marshmallows. I also did a road trip with four other exchange students during which we visited Koli National Park and saw Lapland in t he autumn colors. I also traveled to Lithuania, Latvia and Sweden. In Helsinki I visited a lot of museums and found some really nice second-hand stores. I also got to swim in the see when it was still just 15 degrees warm! I lived in a HOAS apartment in Helsinki and spent a lot of time with my roommates. I also tried to learn to crochet, because so many people knit and crochet things here. I was first a bit scared as I would be living first time completely alone. I’m very proud of how I did, I managed everything really well. I didn’t really experience a culture shock but I did miss Slovenian food. I learned how to be more independent and gained a lot of confidence in myself. I really love Finland and the people and the experience her, I’m so grateful I got to come here!” Tips from Lejla: Don’t be scared to go - you will gain a lot of new experiences Don’t be afraid of new people
Incoming Student Story: Yannick Levermann from Germany
Yannick Levermann did his exchange semester at Metropolia Business School during autumn semester 2022. Yannick does a dual study program in his home university Hamburg School of Business Administration, meaning that half of the semester he is studying and the other half working. Choosing Finland as an exchange destination was rather easy: “I wanted my exchange to see something very new and different and experience a full winter. I also really wanted it to be in the Nordics and I had heard good things about Metropolia as an exchange destination”. Different ways of learning and supportive teachers Yannick enjoyed his studies a lot: “At my home university the courses are fixed and have to be done in a certain semester, so it was nice to be able to choose the courses from a pool of courses. I also had to build my schedule and be accepted for the courses I chose, that was new”. Studies were well organized: “This semester I did not have any exams, only presentations and assignment. Like this it was easier to learn instead of binge learning.” Yannick was also happy that sustainability aspect was considered in the studies. However, biggest thing that made him feel comfortable in his studies w as the interaction with the teachers: “Teachers were very helpful and talking to them on first name basis made it feel more comfortable and approachable. You could always ask them for help if you had any problems”. Teachers were also treating everybody equally. On some courses Yannick was the only exchange student and on some everybody was an exchange student. “Overall compared to the busy study system at my home university, being here was like a holiday with studying”, Yannick concludes. Road trip through Finland and eye-opening experiences During his free-time Yannick traveled a lot: “I did a road trip with some other exchange students in Finland. We rented a car and drove to Kuusamo in the North and then came down and visited a lot of cities on the way”. He also traveled to Stockholm and Riga and in the end of his exchange to Lapland. Otherwise Yannick tried to do things that he would otherwise also do: “I was walking around the city, studied at the Oodi library and met with friends for coffee”. He also participated in events organized by the tutors and student union METKA. Yannick had time to learn things about the Finnish culture: “I really liked the student overalls and I also got to watch the Independence Day handshaking from TV.” Some things were also very different: “I was unfortunately sick a few times during the semester and had to visit a doctor in Finland. Health care system is very different, but it was also a good opportunity to see how I react to being sick in a different place than home”. All in all, Yannick is very happy with his exchange experience. “I haven’t had time to process everything I experienced yet. I came here to see how it is to live abroad and saw that it is possible and I can do it even though there were challenges”. He found a new way of studying and new friends: “In the beginning I was nervous because I was the only one from my university. But I got along very well with people and was able to make good friends, we are planning to see each other soon again!”. In the future Yannick might do a Master’s degree abroad: “This experience helped me to understand how it is to live abroad and really opened my eyes”. Tips from Yannick: Apply for HOAS apartment as soon as possible Don’t be afraid for not having connections and friends, it’s easy to make them. Once you approach Finnish people they are helping and supporting you. Studies are doable and teachers are open for changes. If you have any problems you can ask the teachers and other staff members, they are very understanding and helpful. Enjoy the time and get to know Finland as a country Be quick with the course enrolments
Incoming Student Story: Sophie Vorgerd from Germany
Sophie Vorgerd did her exchange semester at Metropolia Business School during autumn semester 2022. Back in her home university HWR Berlin, Sophie is doing a dual study: half of the semester she is studying and half working in a company so finding a suitable exchange destination was a bit trickier than normally. “I had to find an exchange destination where the semester times were fitting. The locations I found were either Metropolia or a university in Netherlands. I had always wanted to study in the Nordic countries, that’s why I chose to apply to Metropolia.” New ways of learning and being creative Sophie took six courses in Metropolia and was excited about the selection. “I really enjoyed studying at Metropolia! Two courses, Marketing Design and Digital Marketing, were especially interesting. We got to practice using Photoshop and doing a marketing campaign”. Biggest differences to studying at her home university had to do with the course structures. At her home university students take an exam in the end of the course. In Metropolia students are doing several smaller assignments during the semester, and there are usually no exams in the end. “We got to do more creative work and presentations, I could express myself better and actually learn and create”. Another difference to German culture was the relationship between the students and the teachers. “In Finland everyone uses the first names and the students could speak with the teachers from a friendly starting point”, according to Sophie. In addition to this, most of her classes were starting early but they also ended early and left her time to experience things during her free-time. Free-time: traveling and students-clubs Living in Helsinki offered Sophie many opportunities for traveling: “I did a weekend trip to Riga and visited Stockholm. “I also traveled 4-5 times to Tallinn with a ferry because tickets were so cheap and the trip so short”. Sophie had also time to travel within Finland: “I visited Tampere, Turku and Porvoo. I also went to Nuuksio national park and in the end of my exchange I did a trip to Lapland”. There was also a lot of things to do in Helsinki: “I was meeting with locals and other exchange students in karaoke bars, restaurants and for boardgame nights”. Sophie also participated to some events from student union METKA and participated in METKA’s Dungeons & Dragons club. Sophie also signed up for a tutor from METKA and got a lot of information from her before and during the exchange. A great thing was also to get an apartment from HOAS (foundation for student housing) “Location was great, close to both the campus and the city center. Services were good and rent was about 430€”. Overall Sophie had a great study experience in Finland. In addition to living in a different country and culture she learned a lot: “It was great to see a different way of studying!”. After living in Finland Sophie would like to come back, maybe to do her Master’s degree. Tips from Sophie: 1. Apply on the courses as soon as possible - they get full quickly especially in the autumn semester 2. Apply for HOAS also as soon as possible, so you don’t need to find an alternative option
Singapore, an Asian roundtrip in the city state
As a part of the Metropolia UAS and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) joint project Dosis, we were the lucky ones to have the chance to attend an intensive exchange week in Singapore. There were five of us students and three professors from Metropolia UAS who traveled to Singapore for a one week express exchange. In the Dosis project students from both Universities work together to create scoping reviews on various topics. The express exchange to Singapore was the culmination of our joint article projects and a dedicated time for face-to-face workshops and learning experiences after working together remotely for a year or so. *We met some of the students and the SIT professors earlier in the spring as they were visiting Finland on their behalf. Eventually it turned out that the four months from the approval to attend to the express exchange turned out to pass quite fast, and finally on 12th of August we arrived in Singapore. After the weekend of getting to know our way in Singapore, the actual intensive week started by an introduction to SIT’s Dover campus. We were given a tour of the SIT campus where we got to see our Singaporean fellows’ studying facilities. We also got to see some innovation and learning empowering tech. Later on, we workshopped some focal points of our article manuscripts, expected to be submitted later this year. During the intensive week, collaboration among Finnish and Singaporean health tech enterprises and the participating Universities was promoted to foster the possibilities of new joint projects. Relating to that objective SIT organized a seminar with Finnish and Singaporean enterprises and other health care and technology related keynote speakers. They brought out their views to the current state-of-the-art and future perspectives of advancements in health care digitalization and in health tech. The collaboration between the health tech industry and Universities also included company visits to Phillips's, Siemens Healthineers' and SenseTime's Singaporean headquarters and showrooms. During the visits, the health tech companies demonstrated their visions of developing technological solutions in improving the patients' experiences during treatments and stay in hospital and creating more seamless care pathways from home to hospital and back. The companies presented the possibilities of technologies such as virtual and augmented reality in training the future health care professionals to get acquainted with the technologies before moving on to actual clinical practices. SenseTime provided us with an overview of the use of artificial intelligence technologies centered more to our everyday lives. For understandable reasons the practical demos were focused on the technologies that are already applied, rather than the technological advancements that are possibly emerging in the future. The visits and seminars before and during the intensive week have enlightened us that the scoping reviews and other investigatory work conducted related to the Dosis project is operating at the cutting edge when it comes to advancements in health tech. The project overall has provided us with fair insight to the application of artificial intelligence in medical imaging and other medical applications, that are state-of-the-art or just emerging somewhere in the near or distant future. Cultural exchange Alongside the official project program, we experienced Singapore and its corners through local eyes. The students who visited Finland earlier in the spring treated us with genuine Singaporean hospitality and guided us through experiences we would not have experienced relying only on the typical tourist guides of Singapore. Singaporean food, sightseeing and souvenirs - our friendly Singaporean hosts shared tips and helped us get the most out of our stay. Thai style steamboat dining experience, best hawker food courts, hipster shopping streets, best underground places to try out Singaporean and Asian specialities such as frog porridge, chili crabs and durian fruit, you name it! We will never forget the hospitality of our Singaporean fellow students, some of them who had already graduated, and still came to meet us, thank you Shawn, Darren, Melissa, Chris and Zhuo and the professors Frank and Cheryl, and other SIT staff (special thanks to Desmond and Charmaine). ❤️ Blog post written by the Metropolia students: Ella Lonka, Janina Saarinen, Arttu Sundell, Emilia Larmala ja Mika Nieminen
Incoming Student Story: Mayamiko Kasonda from Malawi
Mayamiko Kasonda did her exchange semester in Metropolia in Spring semester 2022 in the field of Health Care and Social Sciences. She is studying nursing in Daeyang University in her home country Malawi. Mayamiko’s university has an agreement with Metropolia within which students are chosen to come to Metropolia for an exchange period. Mayamiko was hoping she would be selected and when she got the information she was excited about being able to make her dream come true. Study experience at Metropolia Mayamiko loves learning and describes studying in Metropolia as fun. Nursing studies in Metropolia consisted of theory and lab classes. Theory classes in Metropolia were more interactive than Mayamiko was used to. Lab classes were organized during the exchange on multiple different topics. Mayamiko got to practice emergency care, incubation, CPR and pediatric nursing, to name a few. Teachers have been very encouraging and guiding students throughout the courses. Being punctual is important in Finland and Mayamiko has also noticed this: “I like how people stick to time. Back home classes were extended easily and this hinders other plans”. Workload in Metropolia has been manageable, although assignments have been hard. Despite of this there has been more free time here than back at the home university. Best thing at Metropolia was interaction with other exchange students as well as Finnish students. Free-time and Finnish Experience Mayamiko arrived to Finland in March when it was still winter: “Weather was challenging at first, when we got to Finland there was still some snow. With time I got used to it and was really nice to see snow!”. Despite the weather and staying warm indoors, Mayamiko was visiting places on the Helsinki Metropolitan area: “The HSL public transportation card allows to travel around, that was really good”. Mayamiko visited Suomenlinna Fortress Island, Café Regatta and Helsinki Central Library Oodi, to name a few. Mayamiko also applied for a tutor at Metropolia, who was helping her especially in the beginning by guiding her to the apartment and introducing to others. Biggest challenge during Mayamiko’s exchange was the language. She picked up some words but that was not enough for a conversation. Finnish people are known for good knowledge of English and this was also helping Mayamiko during her stay a lot. She also learned to interact with people in a diverse way and to understand differences. Tips from Mayamiko: Be open-minded to others Be open to learning new things Have fun!
Incoming Student Story: Carolina Hurtado Arias from Mexico
Carolina Hurtado Arias did her exchange semester in Metropolia during the academic year 2021-2022 studying International Business. Her original exchange destination was Japan but due to Corona, it was postponed and finally canceled. She wanted to go somewhere very different than her home country Mexico. Carolina had heard good things about Finland being the “Happiest country in the world” and its education system and public transportation and was curious of experiencing it herself. Metropolia was her home university Universidad Panamericana’s partner and the choice was then clear. After the acceptance Carolina did a lot of research on studies at Metropolia as well as on things to see in Finland. She was not nervous about coming alone to Finland: “I read that people can speak English very well and that Finland is a safe country to visit”. Upon arrival to Finland weather was the biggest shock: “It was so cold and a lot of snow in January! The daylight was also too short! This kind of weather does not exist in Mexico”. Also Finnish people seemed a bit cold and serious in comparison to Latin cultures but if you asked help for anything, people were always nice. Study Experience at Metropolia Some course topics in International Business were already familiar from home while some were completely new. Courses involved a lot of group work and Carolina got to work together with some Finnish students in addition to exchange students. Relationship between the students and teachers was very different than what she was used to: “In Finland we did not need to use any titles for the teachers and everything was more casual. Some teachers even took their shoes off when they came to the class to be more comfortable”. Carolina got to experience the specialty of University of Applied Sciences while doing a project in Corporate Financial Management, where they had to choose a company and everything that was learned throughout the course had to be applied to the chosen company. Deadlines for the end of the semester were given already in the first weeks and students were given freedom to work within these deadlines. Free-time and Finnish Experience Carolina was actively doing things during her exchange: “I rested only on five days. The other days I was studying and on free days I just checked the map and went to visit different places”. Carolina visited a lot of different parks and museums in Helsinki and traveled also around Finland in some bigger cities such as Lahti, Tampere and Turku. She also went to Lapland where the highpoint was swimming in the Arctic Ocean. Traveling to Baltic countries and Sweden was also very easy from Helsinki. Carolina applied for a student tutor for Metropolia and said it was very helpful. Her tutor was helping her a lot in the beginning of her stay and they also became close friends and were hanging out together during her exchange semester. Exchange semester in Finland was an eye-opening experience for Carolina. She got to see a completely different culture and see how different things are to her home country. Especially important was to see how universities in Finland can be accessed for free and how government is supporting students financially. Public transportation system HSL was also functioning very well: “Back in Mexico transportation system has no schedules and the driver decides if they want to stop or not”. Exchange semester also taught Carolina things about other cultures and how to communicate with different people in a different language. After concluding her studies in Mexico, Carolina hopes to be able to come back to Europe to continue her studies. Tips from Carolina: Don’t be scared - Helsinki is a very international city and everyone seems to be happy to host you in their city. Don’t stop doing what you want even if you would be alone. You will find someone who is in the same situation as you and I am sure you will become good friends. Get out of your comfort zone!
Incoming Student Story: Rafał Bartosiak from Poland
Rafał Bartosiak participated in an exchange semester during academic year 2021-2022. He was studying Electronics in the Field of Technology. Doing an exchange semester abroad was an obligatory part of Rafał’s degree program in his home university Lodz University of Technology in Poland. The exchange process started with an internal application period and Rafał was chosen to apply to Metropolia. “For a couple of years, I had been interested in how it looks in Northern Europe and I wanted to hear Finnish language myself. I also wanted to experience one of the best education systems in the world as well as be in a country where I can easily manage in English”. Finland turned out to be a great destination for Rafał who prefers cold and wanted to see nature. Study Experience at Metropolia Study experience in Metropolia surprised Rafał positively. Metropolia as University of Applied Sciences offered a different kind of perspective to a traditional university: studying is just not about the theory but especially about using it in practice. Learning methods did not differ much to his home country as they included both group and individual work, but lab working was freer in Metropolia. Electronics courses are worth 15 ECTS In Metropolia and exchange students participate on two courses during the exchange semester. Rafał found the big course sizes good: “It was nice to be able to focus only on one subject specifically at once”. Rafał also noticed that students don’t get pressed to study in Finland but they are expected to take responsibility over their own schedules and success. Rafał got to be a part of the Finnish student union tradition to Metropolia’s student union METKA. He took part into some events organized by METKA but the best thing was to be able to wear the student overalls. In the spring semester the biggest event was the Vappu (May 1st) celebration. METKA also organized tutoring for exchange students and Rafał also had a tutor who was, for example, welcoming him on the airport and brought Rafał to his student dorm in Finland. Free-time and Finnish Experience Rafał enjoyed especially the Finnish nature and sauna during his stay: “I fell in love with sauna and in the end went to sauna twice a week!”. Rafał was amazed by the amount of forests in Finland and the good air quality even in Helsinki city. He was also able to travel a lot within Finland: he went to Lapland and saw the northern lights as well as to Turku and Tampere. Helsinki itself offered also a lot of nice destinations, such as Seurasaari, Suomenlinna and Mustikkamaa islands, as well as the important landmarks Helsinki Cathedral and Temppeliaukio church. Besides this Rafał also traveled to the Baltic countries and Lofoten in Norway. Tips from Rafał: Go to sauna a lot - most student houses from HOAS have a common sauna that students can reserve for free! Try to travel a lot - go especially to Lapland in the winter! Apply for a tutor Use the HSL app for public transport
Incoming Student Story: Bence Márta from Hungary
Bence Márta did his exchange semester in Metropolia during academic year 2021-2022 and was studying Electronics in the Field of Technology. He wanted to live in a bigger city and experience a different style of life as he was used to in his home country Hungary where he studies on a bit more rural campus of Óbuda University. Helsinki seemed like an interesting option as it is a big city but still a calm place. On top of this Metropolia offered interesting and fitting courses and his choice was clear. Study Experience at Metropolia After the acceptance Bence started to learn basic sentences in Finnish, using for example Duolingo, and read things about the Finnish culture. As the spring semester in Finland starts already in the beginning of January, he had to do a lot of exams for his home country in December so he can come to Finland and focus only on the studies in Metropolia. Studying in Metropolia turned out to be less stressful than at home. Electronics courses in Metropolia are worth 15 ECTS and like other exchange students, Bence also chose two courses for his exchange: “It was good to have big concepts and focus only on one thing at the time. With the big courses there was no need to multitask all the time”. Students were organizing their tasks independently with the deadlines and teachers were supportive. As Bence had to continue studies home parallel with the exchange, the flexible arrangement also gave him the opportunity to finish the assignments earlier, giving time to do the studies for the home university while still having a decent amount of free time. The fact the Electronics studies were not only for exchange students, helped a lot with getting to know some local students. Best things about studying in Metropolia were getting to know some Finnish students on the classes as well as doing group work: “Everybody had their strengths and you could learn things from each other”. In addition to the Electronics studies Bence also studied some Finnish in Metropolia: “It was hard! Luckily there was some similarities to Hungarian. But in the end, I could understand some basics and tried to use it in basic situations”. Free-time and Finnish Experience During his free-time Bence traveled a lot and visited different places, such as Turku, Oulu and Santa Claus village in Rovaniemi. In addition to this he visited the Baltic countries on a trip with other exchange students and also Norway multiple times during organized trips and by himself and was able to improve his language skills. Helsinki Metropolitan area also offered a lot to visit: a lot of parks, Suomenlinna Fortress Island as well as Nuuksio and Sipoonkorpi National Parks. Bence also got a taste of Finland in forms of food like Mämmi, the Finnish Easter specialty, salty liquorice and famous Fazer chocolate. Tips from Bence Apply for a tutor Try to get to know Finnish people - they are amazing once they warm up! Visit also other cities in Finland, not just Helsinki Don’t spend too much money on alcohol but rather on traveling Try to spend as much time in the nature as you can
First month in Copenhagen!
It’s almost the end of the first month of my exchange period, so I thought it would be good time to tell how life is in Copenhagen. So far everything is going really well, and I’m slowly starting to feel like I’m actually living here, instead of being in a really long vacation. Sometimes I already find myself thinking in English which I knew was going to happen sooner or later, but I never thought it would happen during the first month. I think the main reason for that is the fact that I haven’t met any other Finnish speaking people here, so the only times I use Finnish is when I’m talking to my family. First week here was an orientation week which was mostly about paperwork and getting to know our campus and Copenhagen in general. We got lot of information about how everything works here in case of sickness, what is the easiest way to use public transport and of course about the biking culture. We also had few team building events where we got to know each other little better. In the end of the week our team building event was a Tango lesson, which turned out to be really fun event. The first few lectures that we’ve already had have been very interesting, even though they’ve had similar topics to the courses I already had in Finland. Getting new perspective on welfare systems by hearing stories from other countries has given a great view on how we handle things at home. And I guess that is one of the main reasons why everyone should consider studying semester abroad. Also the lecturers we’ve had so far have been besides very good at teaching, they have been very good at performing and seemed to be very enthusiastic about the subjects that they are teaching. So it has been exciting to be in classes as well. The teaching itself in here is very similar to Finnish way of teaching. We have lectures which are about different theories and practical examples, guest teachers and few field visits also. We do a lot of group works which is very familiar to me, but not to all of my classmates. Our campus is KP’s smallest one and the only campus that has students from one degree, so everyone at our campus are studying social work. Besides being a small campus, its also pretty old but I find it very cozy. Student lunches here are a bit different compared to Finland, and they are prized by weight. It’s also a bit more expensive so most of us bring our own lunches to school. Student culture in Copenhagen is very different compared to Finland. Most of our University's campuses host Friday Bars every Friday in campus which is a great way to meet fellow student from other campuses as well. Some other Universities also host parties during the week at their campuses, but it takes a bit of luck to be able to go there as well. One thing that other exchange students here find interesting about Finnish student culture is overalls and patches and if there’s deeper meaning behind them. Everything’s going really well and besides going to school we’ve also had time to explore Copenhagen as well and we’ve already visited many beautiful places. During the first weeks we’ve visited some tourist attractions such as Glyptoteket, Nyhavn, Christianborg’s tower and of course, The Little Mermaid. The first month here has gone by very fast but it also feels like I’ve been here longer than I have. Living without Covid restrictions has also been weird sometimes, but mostly liberating. The first month has so far taught me so much about myself and the world around so I’m really looking forward to the next months as well.
Student Stories: Berlin Sustainable Week, Service Design Project
Metropolia's student Janike Heimonen wrote us a blog post of the project she participated in Berlin. Service Design Project I got selected to participate on the Sustainability Week Program 2, Service Design Project organized by Berlin School of Economics and Law. During the program we worked as a team and our team was given a task to design a new shopping experience for students to increase attractiveness of BSRs second hand shop NochMall. The research process took place in seven phases and focused on solving the problem of low brand awareness and targeting the students living in Berlin. The seven phases of the project In the first phase, our group researched and analyzed what are BSR and NochMall, by going through available documents and webpages. Second research phase consisted of us visiting the NochMall and exploring how the in-store experience, premises, product offering, and understanding the concept behind NochMall (Figure 1). Third phase of the process was to analyze a study on second hand shopping from 2020 with 6000 participants. The study highlighted how more and more consumers buy second hand. The study also showed that almost half of the surveyed people look for the second hand purchases from the flea markets. Sustainability was one of the main motivations for a second-hand shopping and majority of the respondents emphasized buying second-hand clothing due to the environmental and the pricing reasons. In the Fourth phase, we brainstormed and worked on the questions for the interviews for the key stakeholders of NochMall, such as: Marketing Manager, Operations Manager, Lead, customers, and employees. Once the questions were defined the interviews took place via phone, Teams and by interviewing the employees and customers in the store. The interview findings are emphasized in the Figure 2. What stood out was that NochMall should raise its awareness towards students and people in general and that the company is open for all sort of ideas (not limited to only one development idea). The fifth phase consisted on co-creating the personas based on the interviews and choosing two ideal “Personas”. Persona is an individual or composite-representation which helps to flesh out the user to whom the design is for. In our case we chose “Operations Manager Melanie Gille” and a customer “22 years old Jonas”. The Personas are described more in details in Figure 3. In the Sixth phase, we brainstormed and workshopped with all of our ideas, and then we ranked them as a group in order to find the elements to focus on. This was probably most difficult part as we had to find the consensus and agree on which items to focus on. The result was reached by voting and democracy. The selected focus areas were influencer marketing, Poetry Slam (Events), flea Markets and co-operation with the University by marketing in the campus (donation box concept-idea). Once we had selected the focus areas, we further developed those by taking into consideration the personas and the given problem regarding how to raise awareness within the students. We also tested the ideas for the other students, gained some valuable feedback, built on it and designed a prototype to demonstrate the University coop and donation box idea to increase the awareness within the students. (Figure 4). And for the final part, our team presented our ideas for NochMall's Lead and Operations Manager. After the presentations we had the opportunity to talk with both of them and further demonstrate our ideas, answer to their questions and receive their feedback. The methodology behind the study In the the study we used Service Design Methods. Service Design Network (2021) defines service design as an activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication, and material components of service to improve quality and interaction between service provider and customers. (Service Design Network, 2021). “The purpose of service design methodologies is to design according to the needs of customers or participants, so that the service is user-friendly, competitive and relevant to the customers.” (Service Design Network). HYVE's Service design process HYVE (2021) emphasizes how service design is about designing the ecosystem that deliver meaningful experience to the user across physical and digital touchpoints. They highlight how the approach should be integrative and human, and collaborative and agile to reach the maximum impact during the development process. It is also recommended on getting deep insights on customer experience, to identify innovation opportunities beyond traditional product offering, and to create holistic experiences across physical and digital touchpoints. The aim being the shift from product-oriented to service-oriented business model. They also describe the service design process starting from discover phase, following define, create & test, design and deliver phases (Figure 5). (HYVE, 2021.) The double diamond design process Design Council (2021) introduces the double diamond design process, which covers the same areas as described in the HYVE’s service design process: discover, define, develop, and deliver (Figure 6). The double diamond design process describes the four phases as follows: The discover phase emphasizes the start of the project which is a period of discovery, inspiration and insights gathering to identify user needs and developing initial ideas. The definition phase focuses on making sense of all the possibilities identified in the discover-phase. The goal of the second phase is to develop a brief that emphasize the fundamental design challenge to the organization. The development-phase builds up of the following elements: brainstorming, prototyping, multi-disciplinary working, visual management, development methods and testing. The fourth is a deliver phase which focus on final testing, approval, launch, targets, evaluation, and feedback. (Design Council, 2021.) Design Council provides tools for each phase, such as user journey mapping, user diaries, service safari and user shadowing for discover phase; persona, brainstorming and design brief for define phase; service blueprinting, experience prototyping and business model canvas for develop phase; and scenarios for deliver phase. Service design is used to analyze customer’s rising expectations. When improving current services and user experience, the development needs can be identified by using the Double Diamond Develop and focusing on Define parts. Personas and Service Blueprints ensure that the updated version of the product will serve the customers well and deliver added value. The solutions used in our project As a solution for the problem of raising the awareness especially within the Berlin area students, the selected four elements were presented to NochMall: Influencer Marketing: Instagram accounts of Helen Fares and Rosa Kocht Grun could be used to increase overall brand awareness, build credibility, SEO and ROI, drive purchase decisions and increase sales Hosting Events: Poetry Slam to attract more similar minded people with similar values to NochMall Flea Markets: Join Flea Market or Host Flea Market in order to sell more products and gaining the attention for the BSR NochMall New Donation Box design The case company was satisfied with the ideas and have promised to inform the further ideas and actions. It will remain to be seen whether the case company will implement some of these elements or not. The experience Overall, the studying trip to Berlin was a great opportunity and I feel thankful for being able to be part of it. I also got to meet fellow students and the studying coordinator for the very first time after more than 1,5 years of studying, as we are the “COVID19 year” students, and have been completing all the studies online due to the pandemic. It was great to meet, discuss, brainstorm, and exchange ideas, to work and laugh together live. I warmly recommend each and everyone of you to explore these kinds of opportunities and take those if offered. It is definitely worth it and I can promise that you will not regret. For the last part i included a picture of the group below. References: BSR Webpage and materials. Retrieved 25/11/2021. Design Council (2015). Design Methods for Developing Services. (e-publication). Retrieved 25/11/2021. https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/resources/guide/design-methods-developing-services HubSpot, (2021). Personas. (Website). Retrieved 25/11/2021. https://www.hubspot.com/make-my-persona Madplum Creative (2021). Enhancing Customer Experience Through Intentional Design. (Blog). Retrieved 25/11/2021. https://madplumcreative.com/enhancing-the-customer-experience-through-intentional-design/ Service Design Academy (2021): Service Blueprinting. (Online video). 22.05.2018. Retrieved 25/11/2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSCXHU2bK2U Service Design Tools (2021). (Webpage). Retrieved 25/11/2021. https://servicedesigntools.org/tools
Student Stories: EBA Double Degree Exchange Year in Stuttgart
First of all, my name is Tatu Sairanen. I’m now a 24-year-old third year European Business Student from South-Eastern Finland and I have been doing my one-year double degree exchange for the last 8 months Studying Business Psychology in HFT Stuttgart. I arrived in Stuttgart in the beginning of October and moved to live in a Student Dormitory called In der Au. In the dormitory I have shared my apartment with two other guys, one from Nepal and the other from India. Read whole post
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