Story

"If you are a student in Tampere then you are in the right place." - student ambassador story

Published on 27.10.2022

updated on 31.10.2022

Tampere University of Applied Sciences

Matej Vass was born in Slovakia, a small country in Central Europe. He grew up and spent his whole childhood in Slovakia before moving to Tampere.

How long have you been in Tampere and what brought you here originally?

I have been in Tampere since August 2022. I came here because of the start of my Bachelor's degree programme in Software Engineering. At the beginning, I was deciding between Tampere and other cities, for example, Vaasa or Helsinki, but Tampere swept the board. It is a very lovely city, encircled by voluminous lakes, with picturesque nature and tinge of student life. The public transportation is very well managed and you can get wherever you want, but the eye-catcher is certainly TAMK which offers outstanding education.

What TAMK degree do you study and why did you choose it?

Currently, I study Bachelor's degree programme in Software Engineering.

My childhood dream was to become a programmer and I finally have the opportunity to become one. From an early age, I have been fascinated by technology, mostly phones and computers. I studied specs, tested them, read and made my own reviews, spoke only about them and lived with them. Probably, I should have been called a geek :-D. However, I had to moderate my hobby so I could speak also with people who are not interested in this field. Fortunately, I am now studying a degree programme in Software Engineering so I can again speak only in my "IT language".

In your opinion, what makes TAMK special?

I cannot compare between universities in Finland, but I can with the universities in my home country. I think it is better in a few ways, for instance, there is pretty fast WiFi connection in the whole area of the school, no matter where you are. There are more than 5 pickup points for lunch in the university's canteen, but in my opinion, the most significant thing is the attitude of teacher to student. Teachers in TAMK are very friendly and ready to help in every possible way they can.

How would you describe Tampere as a student city?

If you are a student in Tampere then you are in the right place. There is not a boring week in Tampere. Every week at least one event happens. You can also find areas here for different leisure activities, several shopping malls and various pubs.

Have you had memorable successes / epic failures in settling in Tampere? How did you overcome difficulties?

Luckily, I did not have to overcome any cultural shock because I come from Slovakia, which is part of the European Union, so the traditions and customs are quite similar.

To whom would you recommend Tampere as a place to study and why?

I would recommend TAMK to every student who is exhausted or in any other way unsatisfied with their previous studies. TAMK is a great place to learn and to have fun at the same time. It does not overwhelm students, but gives them freedom to be more creative and helps them to obtain all the necessary skills in their future career.

Photograph: Dimitra Panopoulou-Huovila