Welcome to Ana’s travel blog as she’s studying in Finland as a French student.
Introduction
The sole reason why Ana Aguerre-Castellini chose to attend a business school was to take advantage of the exchange program. Ever since she was a little girl, she always dreamt of studying and living abroad. And when the time came in 3rd year post high school to choose a destination, she found her answer in studying abroad in Finland as a French student — drawn by its world-renowned education system and the promise of a life lived completely differently..
Working abroad in Portugal
First stop: working abroad
When she arrived in Brittany as a student attending Rennes School of Business, she quickly started to look for a first year internship; as it became clear that finding an internship could be compared to finding gold. In a moment of dumb luck, she managed to score an internship in Lisbon, Portugal. Five months in the capital of Pasteis de Nata and tiles: a long way from Finland you say? Totally, but it was the beginning of Ana Aguerre-Castellini’s greatest love: travel.
The trip the Portugal as a French student
Despite her parents’ reluctance to her move to Portugal, she packed her bags and left. As the weeks went by, she came to the realisation that she was meant to explore. Her host country offered a new perspective of life and the beauty of it: the way Portuguese people spent their time sitting in the streets talking to their neighbours, the way each street and each building always had music blasting, the way she started experiencing saudade1 firsthand. She always knew that there was more to it than France, but now she knew that she wanted to see every last bit of the world.
Finnish cold call
Choosing Finland as a French student
When the third year came, Ana Aguerre-Castellini had to make a choice. She had the privilege of choosing amongst tens of partner universities across the globe. However, she had to sit with her parents before choosing: attending a private business school had a cost and it had already became a toll on her family. Her parents always told her and her brother that they could choose any school in the world and that they’ll make it work somehow. But Ana did not want her choices to impact her brother’s future. Going on an exchange semester outside of Europe would mean high costs which her parents could not cover for her. Therefore, she chose to find a university in Europe which could help her get the Erasmus scholarship, she chose to sign a part-time contract offer which would allow her to earn money remotely to pay her rent and buy groceries while away. After long talks with her family and hours of research, she chose Finland, the happiest country with the highest ranking educational system in the world.
Studying in Finland as a French student: understanding the Finnish way
Ana Aguerre-Castellini could not have made a better choice for herself. Finland is captivating in many ways. She had never felt safer anywhere else before, people are warm and ready to help you whenever you need. Their schedule is different from other places she knew, people are living according to the sun: their meal times are different and they have five meals a day, their daily routine involves methods she thought extreme like swimming in a frozen lake before jumping into an eighty degrees sauna, and yet people never got sick even when temperatures went as low as negative thirty degrees. With four hours of sunlight a day during winter and despite the freezing temperatures, people went on long walks and would sit outside in the sun. And so did she. Finland was where she was meant to be.
Moving to Finland next?
After six months studying abroad in Finland as a French student, Ana made it her life goal to find her way back there using a sisu2 state of mind. Ever since leaving, she has been learning more about their job market and the potential perspectives, all while trying to learn the language in her free time. Who knew such a random decision could have that big of an impact on one’s life? You can check out my friends’ random decisions which led them to discovering their own passions here: Morgane Prost and the importance of skincare ingredients, Angela Florio: From Curiosity to Passion for Dance, Ema Bianka and her path to wellness and running and Touleen Akoum: Building a Future in Paris.