{"id":2867,"date":"2025-04-11T11:55:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T08:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/?p=2867"},"modified":"2025-04-16T13:03:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T10:03:20","slug":"my-journey-to-finland-min-resa-till-finland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/2025\/04\/11\/my-journey-to-finland-min-resa-till-finland\/","title":{"rendered":"My Journey to Finland: Min resa till Finland"},"content":{"rendered":"
WRITTEN BY OLAWANDE OWOKOTOMO, MASTER’S STUDENT, \u00c5BO AKADEMI UNIVERSITY<\/h5>\n
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My first week at \u00c5bo Akademi University, getting my school keys at Gripen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My name is Olawande Owokotomo, and I am a first-year Social Exclusion master’s student from Nigeria. My hobbies are gisting and watching reality TV shows. Aside from being a master\u2019s student, I am a content creator with expertise in storytelling, a teenage coach, and a volunteer at Salvation Army International.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I finished my bachelor’s degree in 2015, and since then, I had been thinking of a country where I could further my studies. One day, I was surfing the internet, and came across a picture of an old friend. The background of her picture didn’t look familiar, so I sent her a message to inquire where she was, and she said it was Finland. From that moment, I started researching and familiarising myself with the StudyInfo website. In no time, I found \u00c5bo Akademi\u2019s Social Exclusion master\u2019s programme, and I just knew this was for me! I gathered all the necessary documents to make my application and waited till the application was opened to submit them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In April 2024, I received the mail from Social Exclusion programme that I had been offered admission with a partial scholarship. This led me to the next phase of my journey: applying for my resident permit. This seemed to be the toughest stage because it was completely different from my previous experiences with visa applications. I reached out to a friend in Finland who introduced me to a Telegram group where I was taught all about the process. Thanks to God, my visa was approved in less than two weeks.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time of this post, I have been in Finland for 7 months, and this is my advice to incoming international students: <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Be open-minded<\/strong>: You would be experiencing a lot of culture shocks, especially if you are from Africa. Have control over your facial expression when you see things you find \u2018awkward.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prioritize networking<\/strong>: Amongst many factors that will take you far in Finland, networking is highly ranked. In fact, this should start as soon as you get your admission letter! I was already networking with my course mates even before I got here, and it has opened many positive doors for me. You should also network generally with everyone in Finland. The people who received me at the airport when I got to Turku were referred to me by someone in Tampere; this is someone I met randomly on social media.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep an eye on your mail<\/strong>: it doesn’t end with your admission letter; you will be receiving important emails about housing, enrollment, orientation, and student support from the admission office and the department.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Housing<\/strong>: Apply for your housing in time. Securing an apartment can be a sport around late summer and autumn seasons. International admission will assist with links and information on housing to your mail.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Speak up<\/strong>: If you have questions or make changes to your travel plan, do not hesitate to carry your department along. A student tutor will be assigned to you; be free to communicate your situation to them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Be optimistic<\/strong>: Settling isn’t the same for everybody, but your first few months might be far from your expectations. Do not be discouraged; it’s part of the journey. See every challenge as a stepping stone to getting it right! Embrace the process, and you\u2019ll be just fine.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WRITTEN BY OLAWANDE OWOKOTOMO, MASTER’S STUDENT, \u00c5BO AKADEMI UNIVERSITY My name is Olawande Owokotomo, and I am a first-year Social Exclusion master’s student from Nigeria. My hobbies are gisting and watching reality TV shows. Aside from being a master\u2019s student, I am a content creator with expertise in storytelling, a teenage coach, and a volunteer … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “My Journey to Finland: Min resa till Finland”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":781,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-blogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/781"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2867"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2919,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867\/revisions\/2919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.abo.fi\/socialexclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}