Category: UEF Ambassador

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From clueless to accustomed – how to adapt yourself to Finnish culture

Williane Bernardes

Writer: Williane Bernardes
Master’s Degree Programme: Medical Physics

Greetings, fellow reader! I am Williane and I was born in Brazil about 26 years ago in a family whose background is a mix of European, Brazilian native and African heritage. You may be surprised but such thing is quite common in South America due to the historical context. Due to that fact, I have always been very curious about my ancestors’ origins and since most of them were Europeans, I decided to visit the continent. Doing an exchange would be the easiest way and in the end Finland was my chosen country since I also wanted to see snow for the first time. Fortunately, I could not have made a better choice and soon you will understand why!

My trip to Lapland on November 2017.

The total time I have been in Finland is around 3 years but divided in two periods. The total time I have been in Finland is around 3 years but divided in two periods. The first time was during my exchange in the University of Jyväskylä in 2014-2015 and the second time is still going on since I came back on 2017 with the intention of starting my master’s degree. Fortunately I got accepted in UEF and I have not left so far.
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My tips to balanced student life in Kuopio

Pracheta De

Writer: Pracheta De
Master’s Degree Programme: Biomedicine

“Namaste! Hello! Terve!” has become my usual greeting when I introduce myself at any event these days. It makes me feel great to embrace all the cultures around me and that is part of the reason why I came to study here in Finland.

Choosing to study Biomedicine at UEF, Kuopio, was one of the best decisions I’ve made as it gave me an opportunity to meet people from around the world, study in a fair education system, and have good work-life balance. Not only have I learned to live independently but I can also handle adversities better now.

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These strange Finnish habits surprised me – but now I’m in love with Finland

Thao Nguyen Le Phuoc (May)

Writer: Thao Nguyen Le Phuoc (May)
Master’s Degree Programme: Research Chemists

Hello everyone, I’m Thao Nguyen Le Phuoc (May) from Vietnam. I’m studying the first year in the Master’s degree programme for Research Chemists. This is my first time I am far away from home and living in another country. Therefore, it is easily understandable that everything was so interesting and strange to me. Sometimes, I was really shocked at the Finnish habits, which may not be found in my country. Read this blog post to find out what those strange things I noticed are.

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Enjoying unique Joensuu in my free time

Writer: Fernando Esteban
Master’s Degree Programme: European Forestry

Hello everyone, I am Fernando Esteban, an avid biker and an overall adventurous fellow, carrying out my master studies in Joensuu in the Master’s Degree Programme in European Forestry. The desire to spend time in nature led me to study forestry and to choose Joensuu to live, but it was only after arrival I realized the real scale of nature around and within the city.

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When “typical” does not really fit in your vocabulary – a week of studying at UEF

Writer: George-Cosmin Porușniuc
Master’s Degree Programme: Information Technology (IMPIT)

Hello everybody! I am George, a thirsty for knowledge 23 years old romanian computer science student. Upon reading that very first statement about me you might wonder: “well, isn’t there any better place out there in the world to quench you thirst for knowledge other than Finland?”. The answer to this previous question (that I actually got asked quite a few times by friends and relatives) is a very big and sincere “NO” and in the next few lines that I will share with you I will explain to you why this is the case.

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SMART APPS, SMART STUDENTS AND SMART UEF

The adoption of smart technologies enables the students’ life more effective, efficient, flexible and comfortable. University of Eastern Finland has set targets the transformation into smart university with all the smart tools, technologies and applications. It has already adopted a lot of techniques and technologies. Among them, one of the innovations is the use of smart apps such as frank, tuudo that can access all the related digital resources, making students smart.

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Saudade

“One more month.” That was all I could think about before we start our European Forestry Field Course for the whole month of May 2019. It was mixed emotions. Excitement. Stress. Happiness. Worry. Sadness. I couldn’t even decide which one made it to the top. I just remember feeling those things.

Almost one month has passed and it’s still hard for me to write our experiences during our field course. It is not because I hated it. It’s just that feeling of going back to it again. Which is nice but also sad. Because May 2019 is I think the last time that the whole group of MSc European Forestry 2019 would be complete. I know this should be a post about our time during the field course but I have decided that I want to write what MSc European Forestry meant for me and maybe to consider this as my letter to my friends who were with me during my whole study at the University of Eastern Finland.

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In the middle of forest-where

“Hello, my name is Daniela, I come from Slovakia and I study forestry at the UEF in Joensuu… “

After this kind of introduction, I usually get several reactions or questions like… “Aaaa Slovakia! Game of Thrones was made there?” or “Forestry? What you study in forestry? Trees?”, but also “So how is it to study forestry there? Is it better?”, especially from forestry students from different countries.

The first answer is always “you probably mean Slovenia, not Slovakia, but I am also not sure if GoT was made over there – so you probably mean Croatia.” And here the movie geography ends.

Forestry is a very wide science including for example genetics of plants (and trees), soil hydrology, ecology, forest silviculture and management, mechanization and techniques used in forest management, economics and even policy and information systems. Forestry therefore offers a variety of focuses for everyone who is interested in forests in their own way either practice or science oriented.

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My first day (night) in Finland

Even though this happened around five years ago, those memories are still fresh on my mind like they just happened yesterday. This is just one story of one girl making the biggest step outside her comfort zone in her life. Just a simple trip… simple day and night… for someone. Not for me – the girl living this story.

What does not kill you makes you stronger

I remember the moment I started to think about going to study abroad. I realized that there is an opportunity to study in a foreign country even without having savings for education or wealthy parents. It seemed that my teenage dream to visit Finland was reachable. Somehow. Even though I had a bad level of English and a difficult situation at home. But it was. I guess I needed the point to burn out in order to make radical decision, say to myself “well you are gonna do it now or never… with or without your approach to English” and take a chance.

Who would guess this would change my life entirely.

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Public Health and Nursing Science: Perfect Combination

The global shortage of nursing has opened my eyes to understand the mechanisms behind it. Born from a developing country, I have seen a strong indication of inequality and inequity in the society. I have always been passionate in the clinical nursing field and the nursing science behind the rationale of each nursing intervention. As an immigrant, I find it fascinating to discuss the world of nursing politics in the European sector. I was very inquisitive on how would I combine to develop my knowledge about World Health Organisation and Nursing Science simultaneously until later I discovered Master’s Degree in Public Health major in Health Promotion in Nursing Science at the University of Eastern Finland.

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