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Especially, many Finnish people were curious to know why I chose Finland, not other big countries such as UK Germany, or North America, and if it’s Finland, why Jyväskylä, not like schools in the capital area or other bigger cities such as Tampere and Turku,

To tell the truth, Finland was not my first choice. At first, I was actually thinking of applying for some schools in Spain. However, I found out a major challenge there, which is high tuition fee for international students from outside of EU. I also heard from some local friends that the school systems might not as organized as other EU countries.

Therefore, I opened my laptop and put some keywords in Google ; “Europe / Master’s degree / Free”. Then Google showed several European countries that basically offered free education to foreigners, including Germany, Norway, Estonia and Finland (Finland started collecting tuition fees from non-EU/EEA students in 2017). I found out Finland has a variety of programmes offered in English and decided to apply for Ģ��ֱ�� since it has the programme that seemed to fit my interests. Besides, throughout my research, I got a positive impression about the compact but lively student city which was even described as "Athens of Finland” in Kalevala, the Finnish national epic.

I didn’t know much about Finland nor Jyväskylä but at least I had good impression and was able to associate Finland with some of the cultural stuff, such as sauna, Moomin, Marimekko and so on. Anyway, that’s how I ended up at Ģ��ֱ�� without even knowing how to pronounce “Jyväskylä” properly, but choosing this school turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made so far.

What were the best parts?

Campus area

In Japan, university campuses are usually fenced off, but meanwhile in Finnish and many Western schools, the campuses are a part of the town and blended in with streetscape. Ģ��ֱ�� is not an exception. One thing I love about this university is the campus area that has various aspects including the historical uniqueness, nature and modern facilities. It means that you get to study in the buildings designed by the famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and from there you can also easily access to green areas and the lakeside to relax. Besides, the campus is spacious but at the same time it gives you the university's community feeling. I have visited many other universities in Finland but in my opinion Ģ��ֱ�� has the most beautiful campus with the unique aspects.

Various projects

Another point I liked about the school was that there were various additional options to get involved in several different projects related to my field, which mainly included international business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and business strategies. For instance, I participated a project with a global Finnish company where the objective was to analyze their social media presence and create strategies and recommendations. I think Finnish companies are in general quite understanding when it comes to offering learning opportunities to students. There were that kind of project works and business case competitions which you can join voluntarily outside of classroom. Therefore, if you take actions, you are more likely to get more.

What was surprising?

One thing I was surprised when I started my study there was that there are students of a wide range of ages with different backgrounds. You might have a classmate who takes a baby to the classroom, or some of your classmates could be those who have long working experience already but decided to study again to develop their careers. As Finnish education system focuses on lifelong learning, it’s not uncommon for adults to go back to study regardless of their ages and professions. In the beginning, I found that kind of environment in the classroom unique, but meanwhile, Finnish people took that for granted. Thus, the school and the professors were generally flexible in course management in various ways so that it suits the needs of different students.

Do I recommend Ģ��ֱ�� as a place to study?

I recommend it for those who are ready to be active and proactive in school life. This is totally based on my experience, but at least in my master’s degree programme, I think what you gain from the program totally depends on how you work on and make efforts. Most courses were quite lecture-oriented and require either group presentations or final papers to complete the courses instead of final exams. Therefore, getting the course credits itself wasn’t very hard and no one forces you anything. I felt that the school supports individual initiatives of the students with different motivation levels. In other words, you won’t gain much just by attending the courses and passively waiting someone to guide you. On the other hand, if you are the type of person who is willing to create opportunities from your own motive, Ģ��ֱ�� would help you leverage every tool and collective expertise to full advantage.