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When I first arrived in Finland to study International Business at TAMK in Tampere, most of what I knew about the country came from rankings and articles. What I couldn’t know until I got here was how it would actually feel to build a daily life in a new country — and how much more it would offer than I expected. A few years in, these are the parts of the experience I most want to share with anyone thinking of following a similar path.
The Calm, Safe Rhythm of Everyday Life
The first thing you notice about Finland is the calm. Life moves at a steady, unhurried pace, and there is a deep sense of safety that shapes everything — you can walk home late, trust that public services simply work, and rely on things running on time. Finns are often described as reserved, and it’s true that people value their personal space and quiet. But that reserve is easy to misread. Beneath it is genuine warmth: when you actually need help, people are there, honest and dependable. Once you understand that rhythm, the quiet starts to feel less like distance and more like respect.
Learning to Think for Myself
Studying at a Finnish university of applied sciences was different from what I was used to, in the best way. The focus is practical rather than purely theoretical, and you’re treated as an adult who owns their own learning. Here, teachers are more like guides than lecturers. Instead of handing you the right answer, they challenge you to think outside the box and be creative — because often, there simply isn’t one right answer. If you come from a more rigid education system, this can feel frustrating at first. But over time, it pushes you to think more thoroughly and independently. It sharpens your critical thinking and gives you a real sense of ownership over your ideas — a skill that becomes invaluable once you enter the working world, where speaking up and voicing your own opinion truly matters.
A Whole World of Opportunities
This is the part I wish someone had told me about before I arrived, because it completely reshaped my time here. Studying International Business at TAMK didn’t just mean staying in Tampere — it opened door after door to the rest of Europe and beyond. Through a Nordic business case competition, I traveled to Denmark and Sweden to compete alongside students from across the region. I spent a week in Spain studying tourism, and joined a year-long collaborative course connecting students across Latvia and Estonia, where we worked on real projects with people from all over the world. Each of these came through my program — short, intensive experiences that let you see new places, test yourself, and build a genuinely international network without ever pausing your degree.
What struck me most is how open the schools here are to letting you try new things. You’re genuinely encouraged to explore fields far beyond your own, to be curious, and to say yes to opportunities — and the teachers do their best to support you every step of the way. Better still, so many of these experiences, from short exchanges to competitions, are sponsored either by the school or through Erasmus, so cost rarely has to stand in your way.
My Erasmus Exchange in France
The highlight was a four-month exchange in France, funded by Erasmus, where I studied at KEDGE Business School on its Bordeaux campus — one of Edunation’s partner schools. I’ll be honest: it was one of the most formative experiences of my life, and not only because of the new culture. Something special happens on exchange. Everyone around you is open, curious, and determined to make the most of a short time together, and you tend to build deeper, more meaningful friendships than you might over years of ordinary study, simply because everyone arrives ready to connect. There wasn’t a single day that felt dull.
Beyond the friendships, an exchange stretches you professionally. You learn a new market, work in a truly multicultural environment, and pick up the kind of adaptability that employers value long after graduation. I also started learning French — and living surrounded by the language, with a language course built into the program, made it click in a way a classroom back home never could. And because most European exchanges are funded by Erasmus, you get to do all of this with real financial support, and far fewer worries.
A Mandatory Internship, But With Support
Practical experience is central to studying in Finland, and for most students an internship is a required part of the degree — which can sound daunting from the outside. In reality, you are never left to figure it out alone. Beyond the organizations and support structures that help connect you with real companies, the school itself offers free courses and workshops on writing your CV and strengthening your LinkedIn profile. That last part matters more than you might think: in Finland, LinkedIn plays a real role in whether you get noticed by employers. I won’t say that finding an internship is easy these days — it can be genuinely challenging — but you have real support behind you. And once you’ve gained that first experience with Finnish companies, stepping into the wider job market here becomes far more natural.
Would I Do It Again?
Without hesitation. Finland gave me a safe, calm place to grow up a little, a practical education that respects your independence, a passport to the rest of Europe, and memories I’ll keep for life. It asks something of you — the willingness to adapt, to be independent, to embrace the quiet — but it gives back far more. I should say that your own experience will differ from school to school, and mine is really just one story among many; most universities of applied sciences here are fairly similar, and I’d call mine a pretty average, honest slice of what studying in Finland is like. Even so, looking back at these years as a whole, choosing to study here is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Ready to Write Your Own Finnish Story?
If reading this has made you curious about building your own life and studies in Finland, there’s a clear way to start. Edunation’s Pathway to Finland prepares you — in language, academic skills, and subject knowledge — and leads to guaranteed admission to a Bachelor’s or Master’s program, so you can begin your own journey with confidence.
Applications are open now, with a deadline of August 17. If any part of my story resonated with you, book a free counseling session with Edunation and take your first step toward a future in the happiest country in the world.
About the author: This article was written by Phuong Leng (Jade), a Marketing Intern at Edunation and an international student based in Tampere.
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