Visitors from the “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, Romania

TAMK International Services had a pleasure to welcome two colleagues from Romania on 2nd of February 2015 to visit the TAMK main campus. The reason for this visit was to create links between TAMK and ULBS. The visitors were Mr Silviu Nate and Mr Dacian Popa.  ULBS has 23 000 students and more than 300 partner universities all over the world.

During the visit Romanian colleagues met Ms Kirsi Tolvanen, Head of International Services, Mr Riku-Matti Kinnunen, International Coordinator for Engineering, Technology and Natural Resources and Ms Riitta Vihuri, International Coordinator for TAMK School of Business and Services.

One interesting detail about Mr Popa needs to be mentioned. He studied at TAMK International Business programme during 2004-2007 and he still has tight links to Tampere and Finland.

Visitors’ impressions about TAMK were very positive:

“At Tampere University of Applied Sciences we met a dynamic and open team for promoting academic internationalization. Visit at TAMK was a real pleasure to observe a successful combination between academic vision for preparing future generations by providing practical support and educational infrastructure at the highest level.

The relatively similar volume of TAMK’s and ULBS’s ERASMUS+ mobility, study visits, and International Weeks represent excellent prerequisites for future collaboration between our universities.”

From the left: Riitta Vihuri, Dacian Popa, Silviu Nate and Kirsi Tolvanen

Text: Kirsi Tolvanen, Silviu Nate and Dacian Popa
Photo: Krista Merikoski

International atmosphere - BE CURIOUS, GO ABROAD!

It's that time of year again - applications for student exchange in the academic year 2015-16 are flying into the database by the minute (deadline 1st Feb), chat service is busy with all sorts of chatter, and parter universities materials are available for browsing in the main lobby. Info desks have blasted videos from partner universities in the lobbies and all the buzz is positive. :)

Some leaflets are still printed... not everything is online!

TAMK has been steadily growing the percentage of students who spend an exchange semester or a training period abroad during their studies. Most students go to Europe through the Erasmus+ programme, but some venture even further. The only unconquered territory is Antarctica, but that may be only a matter of time...
 

Gabriele Mikulenaite, a recruitment specialist from Rhodesnow, showing the hotels where hospitality students train

Rhodesnow is just one of the companies that visit TAMK or promote training placements for students. With an impressive 1000 openings for trainees in the summer of 2015, they held a presentation to a keen audience at TAMK today. The process is quite easy and flexible, so why not spend a summer where the sun always shines? TAMK supports students with Erasmus+ grants, if the training is accepted as part of your degree!

Did you miss the presentation and would like to secure a training placement? Check out the flyer and email Ms Mikulenaite at work@rhodesnow.com

More info on grants and applying for TAMK students HERE (study abroad) and HERE (training abroad)

Text & Pictures: Piri Hiltunen, TAMK International Services

FINNIPS entrance exams in Warsaw

Last week I had the privilege to supervise entrance exams for candidates to Finnish universities of applied sciences, this time in Warsaw in Poland. The exams are organised by the FINNIPS network for the whole of Finland and attendants came from Poland, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Slovenia and the Ukraine.

- I'm glad we actually made it here, despite the global situation as it stands at the moment, said Oles and Taras, brothers from the Ukraine who hope to start international business studies in Finland in August.

Long days with 3-4 hours of exam at a time. Water, water, water...

In the group interview part of the exam the hopeful candidates shared their hopes and dreams in their future field of  study. Most already had some experience through spending a few months in Finland as an Erasmus exchange student, or already had friends or family studying in Finland.

For myself, this was a first-time experience which I shared with a colleague from KYAMK. Thankfully he had lived in Poland for six years, one of which was in Warsaw. I got a good overview of the city in the brief free hours of each evening, with a travel planner right next to  me... thanks Jori!

If you have a chance to go for a similar assignment abroad, I sincerely recommend you take it!

Text & Photo: Piri Hiltunen / TAMK International Services

Tour de World – Torn between three places

America.

The one country in the world everyone seems to have an opinion about, including me. In August 2011 I started my journey to unravel the mysteries and stereotypes of the country. The destination: Bemidji, Minnesota. Excuse me where? Exactly my thoughts. I had no idea a place like this even existed but I was excited to see what it was all about. I arrived in Bemidji, Northern Minnesota, close to the Canadian border, in the middle of the night and straight away it was clear that the place was not too big; only 13,000 inhabitants. I still decided to give the place a chance and boy was I surprised!

The term “Minnesota Nice” really is accurate. People understood my situation as an exchange student and were willing to bend over backwards to make my stay as smooth as possible. From driving me to the Supermarket all the way to lending me clothes, people were very helpful. When it comes to friendships I made, I have to say that Americans (and Canadians) are easy to get along with. People are very friendly and interested in you, and as in my case, your home country.

Bemidji State University offers a variety of classes for business students and a lot of the courses are very different compared to the ones at TAMK. My favourite was Advertising Management where we actually designed and executed an advertising campaign for a local company all the way from newspaper ads to radio and television ads and billboards. Personally, I really wanted to learn as much as possible about the country as well, where the course Introduction to American Politics came in handy. I now have a better understanding of the country and how it works, which will help me in both my personal and professional lives.

Bemidji State University – Main Gate

Cheering for the BSU Ice Hockey team with the school mascot, Bucky the Beaver



I have to say that my thoughts about American people totally changed during my stay in the beautiful town of Bemidji. It is safe to say that I fell in love with the people and the place. Friendships built to last were made during my stay and I know I will always have a home in Minnesota. Obviously leaving from Bemidji and leaving everyone behind was hard, but at the same time I had something exciting to look forward to…

My internship in Melbourne, Australia.

Before my time on the other side of the world I had to return to Finland. Home. After almost five months in America I was happy to see my family and friends again even though I was sad to have left all my new friends in Bemidji. At the same time I was getting very excited to start my internship in Australia, my “home away from home”, thanks to my exchange period over there while I was in high school. But then again, I was not ready to leave my family and friends again as I just got home. Makes sense? Not really, at least not for me, and that is the exact reason why I felt I was torn between three places; I wanted to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Now, after almost a month in Melbourne I understand what I have experienced so far and what I still have ahead of me. Spending an entire semester in America and then working for five months in Australia are going to look good on my resume! And it is not all about the professional life, even though I hope my time abroad will give me an advantage over other people. I have gained so much in my personal life as well. From the obvious of meeting new people and networking to me pushing myself out of my comfort zone; once again I got confirmation of the fact that I can do anything, as long as I set my mind to it and am open to new experiences. TAMK really offers the students an amazing chance to gain international experiences and to be prepared to work in the global business environment of today.

Enjoying the internship…

And to conclude, my favourite quote and the motto I try to live by: "To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one's self" - Soren Kierkegaard

Text and photos by Iina Saikkonen, a student of TAMK International Business