JKY has once again welcomed the new exchange students of the Faculty of Management to Tampere. This spring we have organized events such as get-together evening, Pub Crawl and International Dinner. Last week, together with ESN FINT, we organized probably the most anticipated international event of the semester: the traditional International Sitsit, which was an unforgettable experience for Finnish and international students alike.

Sitsit are one of those examples of what makes the Finnish student life so unique and exciting – arguably the best in the world. Finnish students voluntarily spend their free time organizing events ranging from parties to excursions to make the lives of their colleagues better not only during the studies, but also afterwards. The amount of different kinds of events and other activities is breathtaking.

We Finns often struggle with exporting our recipes for success – our student life is one of those. It all starts here at home, and there are reasons why we should bring our international students closer to our student culture. Aside from the fact that we have a beautiful nature and exotic people, we also possess a very “Finnish” student life in so many ways that more and more people decide to come over and see what’s it all about with these weird Finns and their well-known education system. More incoming exchange students will lead to better and more diverse exchange opportunities for Finnish students as well. That is, however, just the icing on the cake: the international twist in local student life offers practical language skills, international networks and life-long friendships, to name just a few.

We in JKY want to organize activities that bring all the students in the Faculty of Management together, including international students. We want our international degree students to feel being part of the community, our exchange students to meet not just other exchanges but also many locals and our Finnish students to improve their international readiness. It’s a definite win-win-situation and you could still add plenty of more ‘win’s.  There are lots of international events still coming up this semester, so stay tuned!

Also remember that the recruitment of international tutors for autumn 2018 will start soon. We are looking for Finnish and international degree students in the Faculty of Management to tutor our new arrivals next semester. International tutoring is probably the most important link in the internationalization, as the tutor is often the first connection to Finland, Tampere and the student community for the new international student. While the task is important, it is also very rewarding: tutors receive 2 ECTS, a monetary compensation, an official certificate and of course never-ending international friendships! The recruitment of international tutors will start in week 10 – if you have any questions, contact me or the international organizers of Boomi, Staabi and Iltakoulu!