The Interns (part 1)

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For the past couple of months, four interns have been working in different units of the University of Helsinki’s Education Services. For Minna, Lyra, Risto and Emmy (all university students themselves), the internship was not only an opportunity to gain relevant work experience, but it also offered a rare look into the infrastructure of the University’s academic administration and the many services it provides to students, teachers and other staff members. In this two-part series, the interns reveal some of the things they’ve learned along the way, the must-dos in Helsinki for locals and exchange students alike and more…

 

MinnaL

Name: Minna Lindqvist
Major: Sociology
Minors: Politics and International Relations, Development Studies and Gender Studies
Study year: 7th

1. What do you do and what does your average day look like?

I am an intern at the University of Helsinki Admission services, where I do different types of surveys and reports about applicants and students at the University of Helsinki. My average day is a combination of E-lomake, Excel and Word, with a dash of SPSS and emails. Basically I compile quantitative and qualitative data, interpret it and write reports so that Admission services could better understand their clientele.

2. How did you find out about this internship and what made you apply for it?

I found out about the internship from the University of Helsinki Rekrynet. I applied for it because I’ve enjoyed my study years at the university immensely and wanted to know what goes on “behind the scenes” so to speak. Also, the internship sounded like something I thought I could be quite good at so I felt confident in applying for it.

3. What are some of the highlights of your internship so far?

The highlight of my internship so far has been the realization that I haven’t wasted the seven years I’ve spent studying sociology, that I’ve actually learned valuable skills that I can apply at work, and that because of these skills I am a valuable asset to my team.

4. What kind of challenges have you encountered?

E-lomake and Excel have not been as cooperative with me as I hoped but we’re making it work.

5. What are the must-dos in Helsinki?

Go walking around Töölönlahti and Hietaniemenranta, have dinner at Juuri, go see a gig at Bar Loose and spend the rest of the night dancing your troubles away at Tavastian Lauantaidisko.

6. If you could go to any place in the world right now, where would you go?

Berlin.


lyra

Name: Lyra Li
Major: English Philology
Minors: Communications studies and Social Psychology
Study Year: 6th

1. What do you do and what does your average day look like?

At the moment I split my days between the International Exchange Services and Student Services (both part of the University’s Education Services), and I’m happy to say that no two days are ever quite the same – from proofreading, writing in our Welcome to UH blog to contacting incoming exchange students, I often have a variety of tasks to do. One thing’s always constant though: my looking forward to lunch every day.

2. How did you find out about this internship and what made you apply for it?

I also saw the advertisement on University of Helsinki’s Rekrynet and I was immediately drawn to the many international aspects of the internship in the description. I had been wanting to gain more work experience from my own field of study for a long time and this together with my fond memories of my exchange to Asia from a year ago, made the prospect of working in an international environment again very tempting.

3. What are some of the highlights of your internship so far?

I miss those hot days in the beginning of August when the students of the Helsinki Summer School had just arrived: the skies were blue, the days were long, ice cream had never tasted as sweet and everybody seemed so pleased to be in Helsinki. But on a slightly more serious note, my internship (including the people I’ve come into contact with) have in many ways broadened my understanding of the choices I have in terms of furthering my education and choosing my future career.

4. What kind of challenges have you encountered?

Learning to become more flexible and adaptable to different situations – to be able to improve these skills have been invaluable not only for work, but also in other areas of my life too.

5. What are the must-dos in Helsinki?

Whether you’re new to Helsinki or not, it’s always fun to act as a tourist and lose yourself in the city, because you never know what you might find. Go catch a movie in Orion (such as The Princess Bride this Sunday), grab a big mug of glögi and some gingerbread cookies from one of Helsinki’s many quaint cafes and tour around the Helsinki Observatory. Also, don’t miss the Opening of the Christmas Street (Aleksanterinkatu) on November 22 at 2pm!

6. If you could go to any place in the world right now, where would you go?

I’d love to go snorkeling or take a rainforest tour in Australia.