Skip to main content

"Three favourite things in Finland: nature, people and education" – student ambassador story

Published on 6.11.2018
,
updated on 4.2.2020
Tampere Universities
Bora Nam
Student Ambassador Bora Nam comes from Korea. She has been living in Tampere since 2017.

How long have you been in Tampere and what brought you here originally?

I have been in Tampere for 1 year, but I was an exchange student in Helsinki 3 years ago for a year. Since when I was in high school, my dream is to come Finland to study. Because I got inspired to visit Finland by book which is about Finnish education system written in Korean. After finishing my exchange study for 1 year, I thought it is not enough for me to know the real of Finnish education system. Above all I really enjoyed living in Finland and met many people who are from different backgrounds. Therefore, I decided to study Master Degree Programme in Finland again.

What subject do you study and how did you choose it?

The subject I am studying is Master Degree Programme in Media Education. The reason I chose this one was to learn media literacy as well as education in depth. My background was only general education in Korea so I would like to learn new things such as media literacy and communication.

What do you most like about Tampere and Finland?

There are three favourite things I love in Finland. First of all, nature. Finland is the one of the cleanest air countries in the world and there are always nature I can discover around me. Whenever I want to escape the city life, I visit the forest, which takes only 10 min by walking from home, and relax at the forest. In Finnish forest, I can find limitless wild berries and mushrooms depending on season. Secondly, people. Generally, Finnish people are really humble and don't like to bother others. However, whenever I ask some help from a stranger, they are willing to help me a lot, even smiling. I have never felt bad because of racism or discrimination by people as a foreigner in Finland. Lastly, the education system. One of my reason to study in Finland is to get a good quality of education system. I am given lots of opportunity and freedom to study at the university. When I visited normal elementary school in Finland, I was surprised that how students can study with creative educational environment.

What about your hobbies in Tampere or in Finland?

I got three hobbies living in Finland. First is to film and edit videos. I realised that I would like to share my unique life and keep my precious memories of Finland online, so I made my own YouTube channel and usually upload a video once a week. Second is to go the forest picking berries and mushrooms. It was my first time to pick berries and mushrooms in a wild forest in my life here. In Korea, it is not a common activity. Third is to do cross-country skiing. Because of lots of snow and forest, I can enjoy cross-country skiing in Finland. It is a really good sport during winter while enjoying nature. I like to go to Lapland in the North during winter to ski.

What would you say to someone deciding whether Tampere is the right place to come to study and live?

Tampere is the 3rd biggest city and one of the most international cities in Finland. You can meet various international friends and join many events or activities. The universities in Tampere offer you a choice of courses from the other if you are a student in Tampere. Geographically, Tampere is surrounded by two beautiful lakes which are Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi and many nature forests. You can even see the northern lights around Näsijärvi when the sky is a clear. There is a possibility that you can enjoy not only the city life but also the nature life.

 

Study with us