When you get help yourself, you want to share it further. Doctoral researcher Ambrin Farizah Babu and Master’s student Akuroma George participated in the YUFE@Home activity.
New students settle in a foreign campus town – perhaps even in a foreign country. At the beginning, many people face situations in which they need everyday help. How does the internet connection work, how should trash be sorted, and where should you buy winter clothes?
By participating in the European YUFE university network’s YUFE@Home activities, doctoral researcher Ambrin Farizah Babu and Master’s student Akuroma George from the University of Eastern Finland got used to answering such questions, as they acted as student counsellors in Kuopio in the academic year 2021–2022.
When you get help yourself, you also want to share it further. This personal experience has guided Ambrin Babu.
“I did my Master’s studies in Switzerland, and I participated in volunteer activities there. In Switzerland, in the buddy programme, every new student received a tutor who picked up a student from the airport and helped with practical arrangements. When I came to Finland myself, I frantically searched for information that I could only find in Finnish, trying to figure it out with the help of Google Translate. Such a voluntary counselling service is useful because then you know who to turn to,” says Ambrin Babu.
Most help requests come from international students
The voluntary student counselling services are part of the YUFE in our cities action organised within the European university alliance YUFE (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) and coordinated by the University of Eastern Finland. The goal is to increase cooperation between universities and university towns.
Ambrin Babu, who is conducting doctoral research in the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, noticed an announcement about the YUFE@Home activity on the university’s message channel. She lived in Kuopas (Kuopion Opiskelija-asunnot Oy) housing, and that was a key condition for volunteering. Information about volunteer counsellors was distributed on flyers and the website.
“I was asked all kinds of questions by students living in Kuopas houses, such as where to dispose garbage, how to get to the sauna, where to find ethnic shops, places to hang out, and flea markets. Most people who were asking questions were international students. In autumn, there was a lot of questions, and in the spring, for example, people were asking about summer jobs.”
Ambrin Babu’s doctoral dissertation will be completed next year, and she hopes to continue as a postdoc researcher somewhere in Finland. The YUFE experience has been a positive addition to her doctoral studies.
Familiar topics: work permits, taxes and bank accounts
Master’s student in Applied Physics, Akuroma George started to work as a YUFE counsellor in the same fashion as Ambrin Babu. A message about the counselling services on the university’s internal channel made Akuroma George sign up for the activity.
“When I came to study in Kuopio, I got help myself. Now I wanted to help other new students.”
Akuroma George had previously studied in South Africa, and tutoring was an unknown concept there. At the University of Eastern Finland, she received guidance that helped him settle in the new campus town. Akuroma George has mostly given advice to international students of the University of Eastern Finland and the Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Kuopas apartments located in the Neulamäki area.
“The students called me and I also went to introduce myself to them. Mostly, I was asked how to establish a WiFi connection in the apartments. In addition, questions were asked about waste sorting and laundry, as well as where to buy furniture and clothes. I have also been asked for advice on opening a bank account, exchanging money and looking for part-time jobs.”
Akuroma George is able to relate well to the practical problems faced by international students arriving in Finland. Questions that are repeatedly asked concern familiar topics, such as move notifications, work permits, taxes, bank accounts and health care.
“I can easily recognise a new student, and that’s how contact is made. Currently, I work as a tutor for students at the university’s Department of Applied Physics,” says Akuroma George.
Find out more about the activities of the YUFE Alliance on the university’s website: uef.fi/en/yufe. In addition to the University of Eastern Finland, the YUFE Alliance includes the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, the University of Antwerp in Belgium, the University of Bremen in Germany, the Carlos III University of Madrid in Spain, the University of Essex in the United Kingdom, the University of Cyprus, theTor Vergata University of Rome in Italy, the University of Rijeka in Croatia, and the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland.
More information about YUFE activities
Riikka Pellinen, Director of International Affairs, University of Eastern Finland, riikka.pellinen@uef.fi, tel. +35840 355 2453
