Istiván Mák - Hungary

Studying International Business at ARCADA University of Applied Sciences

I have to admit, I was a little bit worried at first. I thought it was going to be dark and cold and so far north. I didn’t expect that there were going to be so many people here from all over the world. I thought I was going to be the only exchange student here! I arrived here in 2005 and in less than a week I knew I was in the best place possible with the best group of people possible! I had to admit that the people were so cool, the country is beautiful and I just fell in love with Finland right away.

People are so relaxed. It seems like people here are never stressed or in a hurry. It’s very laid-back and completely multicultural. You can really learn a lot about people and their cultures when you work in groups with them, and that’s a big part of the work we do here. I think this is also such an invaluable lesson for someone studying something like international business. It gives you the skills you need to deal with and communicate with other people. I also love how much contact we have with our teachers. We have lots of group assignments and presentations, and we work closely with our teachers.

I’ve done two internships at Nokia during my studies, and I’d definitely say that the school is moving in the right direction when it comes to helping international students to get internships. If you’re active and take the initiative, it’s definitely possible to find an interesting internship. I’m about to graduate and I’m absolutely looking to stay in Finland for a couple of years at least. I officially came here for half a year and that was almost three years ago!