The reason why I moved was mostly based on what I had heard of the country: Harsh (but real) winters, beautiful northern lights and, maybe most of all, a peaceful and quiet place to be. And of course I was also curious about Finnish culture, which is quite unique even within the Nordic countries.

Let me quickly introduce myself first: I’m Tom and I moved to Finland from my home country of Germany.

Being comfortable with living in foreign countries from previous experience, making the move to Finland didn’t feel too daunting. Rather, I felt excited: A new language, new culture, new people, new foods and a still unfamiliar way of life.

Initially, I was a bit unsure of what to do, but figured that I would start by learning Finnish. Everyone says how the Finnish language is very hard – even impossible to learn, but I have to disagree. It’s hard and takes a while, but it’s definitely possible! After less than two years, I received a certificate showing that I had reached B2.1 level, not quite enough for university, but it sufficed for an internship at a small business in Lapland.

This is also where I started learning programming in Python, which became the first step towards my four-year journey at Lapland UAS.

Machine Learning and Data Engineering programme

In summer 2021 I discovered that Lapland UAS was taking in students for their brand-new ‘Machine Learning and Data Engineering’ (“MLDE”)-Bachelor’s degree programme, for which I quickly decided to apply. I was eager to dive further into programming and was curious about Machine Learning, which I knew relatively little about at the time, as ChatGPT would not exist for another 1.5 years.

Luckily I got a place, and just like that everything changed yet again. With the pandemic still in full force, I moved to Rovaniemi. The first semester started with a mix of in-person and remote lectures. As a result, our MLDE group was a bit slow to bond at first. Not to forget that winter announced itself early, with the first snowfall arriving in September, so I knew it was going to be a tough winter in more ways than one!

Despite the hardships, I found myself surprisingly happy. The winter was beautiful and made studying at home quite cozy. I thoroughly enjoyed my classes and was very motivated to learn more. From what I’ve been hearing and seeing, the programme has continued to evolve and is keeping up with current developments.

Exchange opportunities

At the end of the first semester, I was informed about the university’s exchange study opportunities and got very interested in the idea. Even though it was a bit early for an exchange (after all I was still in my first year of studies), I decided to just go for it and applied. A nerve-wracking half a year later and what felt like a scavenger hunt of acquiring all the needed documents (for an exchange outside the EU), everything worked out just barely. That experience probably would deserve its own story, but in short, it ended up being one of the most rewarding (and stressful) things I’ve done.

Living in Finland

Returning for the spring semester in my second year, and with some new-found confidence, I felt ready to tackle the next few years. Studies aside for a moment, the social life was also getting more lively once the pandemic died down: tourism slowly ramped up in Rovaniemi, we organised student meet-ups, and I made several dear friends. (Including Finns, can you believe that!)

Only looking back now do I realise how much has really happened. I took part in several student projects, two game jams, completed two internships, did additional courses in fields that personally interested me and participated in a hackathon with a fellow classmate. I also realise how I’ve become more Finnish: Drinking copious amounts of coffee everyday, going to the sauna frequently and appreciating the moments of awkward silence.

Towards the end of my studies I was equipped with a broad set of skills related to ML and computer science, also touching upon electronics, IoT, networking and even entrepreneurship. Of course some things were explored more in-depth, i.e. programming, specific types of machine learning, the cloud and databases. All these skills were really put to the test during the semester projects, demanding cooperation, division of tasks and developing our engineering and problem-solving abilities.

The culmination of it all was the bachelor’s thesis: now I had to find a topic that really interested me and apply all my skills and knowledge independently. Fortunately (or unfortunately), my latest internship indirectly led to an ambitious thesis topic in the realm of foundation models and particle physics, and may I even say that it turned out quite okay, despite moments of doubt and times where things just refused to go smoothly.

When I originally applied to the degree programme, I had no idea what these four years would turn out like, but ultimately, I graduated in the scheduled time, learned a lot and know much better where I want to be in the future. In hindsight, the most adventurous and bold decisions led to the proudest and most impactful moments.

So maybe to you it may seem a bit out there, moving to the arctic, experiencing the extremes: midnight sun and eternal darkness, -30°C days in winter and +80°C sauna, Finns when they are sober and when they are not.

All that in a country with a practically alien language, a unique culture and unfamiliar people. But the people here will become familiar, the wardrobe adapts, and the language starts to make sense.

Best of luck to you and if this piqued your interest, I think you’ll have an unforgettable time here!

– Tom –