1. For mostgraduatesstudyinginuniversityisseenasanextensionof theirchildhood-mostof themlive
withparents,donot have to worryabout food,variouspaymentsforthe apartmentor Internet,and
money,whichtheygainfromsome additional work,is usuallyusedforpersonalissues.Iwasalways
thinkingthatmovingtoanothercityfor studyingisa huge anddifficultstepforanyone,andthatstep
wouldchange one’slife significantly,wouldhelphim/hertobe more independentandfasterintegrate
intoan adultlife. Icouldnotevenimagine myself movingtoanothercountry.
I knewaboutFinnisheducationwhenIwasinthe last yearof school. Iam very interestedinEconomy,
so I had decidedtoapplyforInternational BusinessprograminHAMKuniversityof AppliedSciencesin
Valkeakoski. The processof preparationforthe examstookquite alotof time and energy:the exam
consistedof fourparts,and three of themwere connectedwiththe annual reportof Fiskarscompany,
whichstudentshadto readand learnbeforehand. IdefinitelynoticedthatIhave improvedmyskillsin
findingandrememberingnecessaryandimportantinformationanddiscardingthe rest.The time came,I
tookthe exam,andaftera fewmonthsof waiting, Ireceivedandemail withextremelyfascinating
message:“Youhave beenaccepted!”Thatwas the firststep,the hardestone,but,obviously,notthe
last.
I startedlearningFinnishlanguage,andduringsummer,Iimprovedittothe Pre-Intermediate level.I
had to solve alot of problems,suchasgettingResidencePermitandfindinganapartmentanda
roommate inValkeakoski,andmyparentswere notable tohelpme a lot,as theirlevel of Englishdidnot
allowthemtodo much.Finally,everythingwasdone,Istarted livinginValkeakoski,veryclose tothe
universityandmyroommate wasa Russiangirl frommygroup. Firstfew weekswere the most
interestingones,aswe hadintroductive lessonstothe courses andmany tipswere givenbytutorsof
howto integrate easilyintoHAMK’slife.Ilikedverymuch MarketingandEconomiccourses:the wayof
teachingandthe contentitself.DuringmyfirstyearI have realizedthatIhave a strong desire toconnect
my future careerwithmarketing,advertisingandpromotion.Inaddition,Inoticed ahuge improvement
inmy level of Englishlanguageandmyleadershipandorganizationalteamworkskills.
It was difficultduringthe firsttime togetusedtolivingonmyown: I hadto keepinminda lotof things,
pay forthe apartmentintime,decide,how tomanage mytime.Valkeakoski isa small town,soyouhave
to findsome additional interestsandhobbiesinordernotto spendtime infrontof the computer
screen.Iread a lot,triedto write articlesondifferentsubjectsandevensmall stories,I wentcyclingand
to the gym. Moreover,HAMKUniversityoffersahuge varietyof differentactivitiesforstudents: for
instance, Itookpart in MarketingRingproject,where HAMKstudentshave tovisitvariousFinnish
schoolsand“advertise”ouruniversity inordertomake graduatesinterestedinapplyinghere.I learned
howto use own positive experience andfeelingswhilemarketingservices-italwayskeepspeople more
excitedwhenthe persontheyare listeningtomentionshisherownthoughtsandemotions ratherthan
boringfigures.Thatishowit works. Anotherexample couldbe mypartin ChristmasFair,organizedby
our group-Iwasin SalesandPromotionteam,andwassellingticketsforthe fair
Afterone yearof studying,summerjobasa waiterdidnot lookveryhard forme: I hadan experiencein
customerservice before,while workingasa shopassistantandthenas an administratorinmyfather’s
furniture shop“Lagoon”,sothe onlyproblemwastime management- Iwasnotusedto working long
shiftsof 12-14 hours.However, Iwantedto earnmy ownmoneyandreallydosomethingthatwould
make me proud of myself,soIwentto the most popularrestaurantand nightclub called“Frigate”inmy
hometown.
NowI have a dream,perhapsa little bitchildishandbanal,butverystrong:Iwouldlike togo foran
exchange in La Rochelle,France, forone year,andthenfindajobin that countryinthe sphere of Sales
and Marketing.Iunderstandthatthere isstill somany thingstodo, butI am highlygoal-orientedand
woulddomy bestinorderto succeed.I alreadyhave done alot,so future difficultieswouldnotseemso
awful.