Category: In English

Understand That Fear Is Useful

Fear is nothing but a biological response to threats. In animals, it triggers the so-called fight-or-flight response, which as the name suggests, causes the animal to defend itself or to retreat to safety when faced with a threatening situation. This mechanism has been one of the primary drivers of survival in all living species today. However, since humans are conscious beings, we have developed abstract fears based on things that haven’t even happened yet. It might be tempting to wish to be fearless, but simply put, without fear of failure we would never get things done. Would you study as hard if you had no fear of failing that test?

Don’t Let Your Fear Become Terror

Unlike fear, terror is detrimental to survival. It is an extreme case of fear, which causes a so-called freeze response. Terror could cause you to not be able to even pick a book to study for fear of not studying well, or at the time of the exam you could find yourself unable to pick up the pen to start writing. One way to return your mind to a “healthy” state of mild fear is to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and reassure yourself (out loud or silently). Say things to yourself like “I can do this”, “I will do my best”, “I am stronger than this”, “I am capable”. And try to keep it positive: instead of saying, “I cannot fail”, say “I will succeed”.

Focus On the Things Which Are In Your Control

One of the pitfalls in every project or endeavor is when we start focusing on things, which are out of our control. What is the best way in which you can influence these things? Making a list of the tasks that needs to be done is a good way to organize your thoughts and develop an action plan for that challenging project or that scary final exam. Prioritize the tasks with letters or symbols so you know which ones require your immediate attention, and which ones can wait until you have more time on your hands.

Avoid Self-sabotage

We tend to be overly critical or overly complacent with ourselves. When fear of failure strikes us, we start underestimating ourselves and put ourselves down. For every self perceived “weakness” or “fault”, remind yourself of three strengths or virtues that you have. Every time you feel those icky negative thoughts of yourself surfacing on your mind, remind yourself of another three awesome things about yourself. Eventually you will realize just how strong you really are.

Be Compassionate With Yourself

Sometimes, even when we did our best and did everything right, we might end up in the unpleasant situation of failure. It’s disappointing. The first thing to do when you find yourself in this situation is to know that you are not alone. Talking about the situation with someone is one of the best ways to deal with failure. By sharing your situation, it becomes a more tangible thing that you can analyze and deconstruct, and perhaps find new ways of doing things next time. Don’t forget to remind yourself about all the things you have accomplished. You will generate feel-good juice in your brain. And this in turn will make you more capable to tackle the next big challenge.

What were the main challenges in the process of being elected to this position?
We had to first find out if there are any legal obstacles which might prevent an international student like me from applying for this position, as it was the first case of such kind. We didn’t find any. My nomination will obviously influence some of the communication schemes inside the OYY office and bring at least a bit of English to some of the meetings which were only in Finnish previously.

How did you come across OYY and how did you get involved in its activities?
I started volunteering at OYY and attending the events like International Section right after I started my studies at the University of Oulu in 2014, thus I’ve been around for a while. Being the second ever international student in the OYY’s Council, I felt like I had a lot to contribute. In my humble opinion, the more diverse the backgrounds of people in the Council are, the better.

Will things change somehow for international students now that they have you as their representative?
I don’t see my new position as the main trigger for some brand new changes. My focus will remain on doing my job well and being as dedicated to it as I was before. I’m totally open for communication with any students – international or not – and I highly encourage them to get in touch with me if they have anything on their minds they want to share with me.

Why do you think you are the first international student ever in the OYY’s student council presidency?
I’m not the right person to ask this question. My colleagues were the ones voting. I think my background, experience and past actions had an influence. Plus you have to act and try. I applied in the best way I could, but without having any huge expectations. And it all worked out.

I definitely think the Council needs to have more international students aboard. However, it’s not about the quantity in this case, it’s about the quality of their participation. I’d like to encourage anyone who wants to get involved to apply for the Council in the future and not to be afraid of any challenges it might bring.

What will be the first thing you will do as Vice President?
We’ll keep on working as one team and will strive to improve things as much as we can until the end of the year. We have some plans in mind and we will do our best to have them all come to life.

What’s your opinion about the University of Oulu, its new strategy and the Joint Arctic Agenda?
I’ve loved the University of Oulu from day one. Its new strategy puts an emphasis on our background and location instead of putting it to the back burner, which I appreciate a lot. We have so many unique things to be proud of. It’s definitely a way for us to rightfully stand out.

I’d like to remind all the students that they can help their University to develop further and contribute to the success of the new strategy. If you feel you have some time on your hands you could dedicate to your University while improving your own CV, I highly encourage you to apply for the brand new Tellus Volunteering Programme. Together we can make our University and our city much more student-friendly and exciting to study and to live in.

What do you think about internationalisation in Finland? Is it just a buzzword or a real thing happening?
It’s a bit of both. It’s really happening, of course, and a lot of great people are working on it a lot. But sometimes I feel that the problem is that the international people themselves are talking about it way more than doing something to support and accelerate it. It would help if international students took more actions themselves instead of waiting for things to happen.

Most of the doors are already open, really – you just have to go out there and start contributing. I never really had problems being an international student here – not everything is available in English, of course, but it’s okay – we’re in Finland, after all, thus the omnipresence of the Finnish language makes a lot of sense, right?

Instead of blindly complaining, some people might just learn to adjust a bit and be more vocal about the challenges they are facing. The great people who are listening and who are ready to help you are always around.

Start Fresh

A new academic year, new luck, they say. Determined to get all the credits in the world, the students are piling up courses and workload. They tend to forget that university years are actually the most epic time of their lives. Tilt your situation and look at it from a different angle: Now life gives you a chance to dig deeper into your favourite spheres of knowledge and learn something fascinating. Why not take a course or two not directly related to your studies?

Do Some (back-) Ground Working

Maybe you need to joggle between part-time jobs, studies, and hobbies. Maybe you are lucky to be able to focus fully on your learning outcome. Whichever way, remember that your brain keeps working constantly – you don’t even need to trigger it forcefully. Take breaks from studying, go for a walk, meet friends, and play sports games outdoors. In the meanwhile, let those grey masses filling the space between your ears take care of the seemingly unsolvable problem in your homework in the background. Relaxing and balancing your lifestyle helps you indirectly with your work. Don’t cut short on that!

Stop Worrying

You will graduate, eventually. Students do it all the time, believe me. If you fail a course, or you find something too difficult – worry not. Constant practice is what keeps you moving forward. Worrying won’t help much. Instead, get up and try again. You’ll get that degree, sooner or later, so you might as well enjoy the ride.

Do the Networking

Your classmates from today might be your colleagues from tomorrow. Who says being a successful student constrains you to sitting all alone in a library? Network, teamwork, socialize, go to parties and meet new people! Oulu is the Silicon Valley of Finland – if you want to create your own start-up one day, you might as well find human resources already now.

Go Places

If you have ever dreamed of living abroad for a while, or you simply want to improve your English skills, or you are just curious – go on exchange. Now it is the time! You will get all the necessary support and financial aid from your university and government; you will have a reason and a learning agreement that keep you from falling behind in your curriculum, and you might come across an important person, place or professor for your future life path.

The nordic region, particularly the Scandinavian Arctic, has remained an area of relatively untapped potential, even though Arctic Europe is the 10th largest economical region in the world. Given the growing interest in the Arctic and its resources, a so-called Joint Arctic Agenda has come to being.

This Agenda is a joint venture between four Nordic universities: The University of Oulu and the University of Lapland in Finland, Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, and the Arctic University of Norway (UiT). By joining forces, Finland, Norway, and Sweden can better aim at achieve growth in the Arctic region.

This truly is an ambitious endeavor to undertake by the universities and their respective countries. However, the eventual success and continuous improvement of this cooperation will likely yield economic and social growth in the Scandi-navian Arctic region, which will in turn improve the lives of those living within it.

Through the Joint Arctic Agenda, the research capacities of the universities can be pooled together in order to address key opportunities in the Scandinavian Arctic region. Some of these opportunities include medicine electronic services, social work, and care for the elderly, as well as industrially relevant challenges such as renewables, safety, and environmental standards in extractive industries.

In the report “Growth from the North” released by the Prime Ministers’ Office Publications, four main drivers of growth are described; namely: liquefied natural gas and renewables, greener mining solutions, increased tourism, and ice and cold climate solutions. These drivers are meant to be nourished through joint regulatory frameworks (which would remove border obstacles), as well as standardization of education and qualification, among other things.

By developing joint study programs, the four universities aim to provide students with the tools and competences they need to tackle these challenges head-on.

Thus, by providing relevant courses and possible exchanges between the four universities, a student focusing on the Scandinavian Arctic can obtain different perspectives from the different. Preparing students to deal with these matters would lead to a well prepared workforce, and better decision-making in matters directly influencing the region.

To view the reports on prospects for economic growth in the Arctic and Northern regions visit the Arctic Europe Forum 2016 webpage. 

Food Supply

Start your day with a healthy breakfast Scandinavian-style early in the morning, return for lunch where you can choose between salad buffets, super-cheap meal and a bit fancier dishes, and conclude your day with a dinner! When studying in Oulu, you’ll never need to cook anymore.

Also the restaurants have changed lately: In January 2016, Fazer Amica took over most of the restaurants from the all-time-present Uniresta. Luckily, for us consumers there’s not much of a difference, the prices are the same, the restaurants can be found at the same spots, and you can get food from 7:45 onwards.

For the daily lunch-menus, check ruoka.kitchen, you’ll find both providers there!

Stay Connected

You surely know how to find your lecture halls in weboodi, your lecture material in Optima, and books and articles in the online-databases of the library, right?

But did you know there is even an app for our Uni? Tuudo (replaces Aapo) can soon be downloaded for Android and iOS, and it helps you stay on top of your schedule and the room-maze our Uni sometimes seems to be.

Mens sana en copore sano

All this eating and studying calls for some physical counter-balance! When the days get shorter and it’s too slippery outside to run around our beautiful Linnanmaa area, use the Uni’s facilities for staying healthy!

With the sportspass you can enter numerous gyms around the city, participate in classes for free or at low cost, or go swimming in one of Oulu’s pools.

Check out the details here: www.oulunkorkeakoululiikunta.fi or download the sports app (OKKL)!

TellUs Innovation Area

The probably biggest change has taken place in the former library Tellus, which is now the TellUs Innovation Area:  You can book group-work-rooms, hang out in the ‘nest’ for relaxing, have constructive meetings in cute cubicles or a bigger one at the stage. You can find a mentoring service, or become an entrepreneur and be supported by experts who already succeeded in that.

Put your CV to the acid test or connect with companies for your later life already. Check out more info on their webpage, or just pay a visit – there’s another café and hang-out area!

Relax And Chill

If you don’t feel like studying in a quiet room in the library Pegasus, which is also renewed (open till 7 pm on its longest days with an extra area till 9 pm), you could relax in one of the newly invented corners with sofas and armchairs you’ll find all across the campus.

If that’s too busy for you, find your guild’s room – there’s usually sofas, coffee, nice people and some games. Try it!

A newly opened, a bit churchy, quiet room close to L3 offers space for mediation and relaxation – working there is prohibited!