So, you’ve become an English freshman at the University of Helsinki. First, let me congratulate you on this momentous accomplishment. Second, let me acknowledge the fact that you’ve probably gotten a million little booklets and flyers and emails and…gods know what, describing to you exactly how to make your way through your university studies. Third, this article is not meant to answer ALL your questions about university life, but more so to give you some practical tips we wished we’d learned earlier and advice to hopefully help you avoid some of the pitfalls some of us have spent some quality time stuck in. 

Let’s get started!

Getting things in order:

1. The first thing I remember thinking during my first months of studies was how scattered all the information about my classes, courses, and just about everything else was. The university and the teaching it provides, spreads onto multiple platforms, such as Moodle, Student.fi, Sisu, Helka, Flamma, etc. to mention a few. This can be a rather confusing maze to navigate, especially when you just want to enjoy your first taste of higher education. One of the things you can do to make your life a bit easier is to connect your studies calendar to your phone’s calendar or your google calendar. The process is fairly simple, and is explained in more detail right here: SYNCHRONISING YOUR CALENDAR

By doing this you will also be informed of any scheduling changes or location changes of your classes directly on your phone calendar instead of having to log into different sites to double check.

2. In addition to this, you’ll also want to connect your university email to your chosen email application on your phone or computer, because surprise surprise, the university is really big on emails. This is very easy to do, just go to your chosen email app (outlook/gmail) and choose ‘add account’ then enter your university email in the form of username@ad.helsinki.fi and then just follow the instructions provided by the app. Now you’ll get all the super important emails neatly and easily in one place.

Resources for your studies:

All you really need to get through your first year of University is a little bit of curiosity, a sprinkle of backbone, a whole lotta’ can-do-attitude, and of course, the holy substance of students everywhere –coffee. Sometimes, especially if you’ve come to university straight from high school, it can kind of feel like you’re being thrown into the deep end of the pool and being told to swim. Essentially, it can feel like you’re expected to hit the ground running. This is why we here at BTSB would like to hand you a pair of metaphorical sneakers to give you a little head start. Here are a couple of resources you will undoubtedly find helpful.

1. Don’t waste money on expensive text editing programs. The university offers its students free access to a Microsoft Office 365 licence that is tied to your university username and credentials. This means you are able to download and install all the Microsoft Office 365 programs like Word, Excel, Power Point, etc. to your home computer courtesy of the university. This, again, is a fairly quick and painless process to which you can find instructions here: INSTALLING OFFICE 365

2. Having your text editing software is all good and dandy, but there comes a time when having software to write with will not be your biggest problem. At some point in your studies, you will need to be able to cite your sources with the painstaking accuracy cherished in academia. This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. However, citing your sources and keeping your sources, especially electronic ones, can be a very time consuming and frustrating process, especially if you’re just beginning. It is important to cite your sources correctly, and to know why citing is so important, however, not even professionals rely entirely on their memory in citing, as the practice is performed for a very… practical reason. The university used to offer some citation software and classes on how to access those, but in recent years the licences the university has access to have dropped in numbers. This is where one of my favorite programs ever comes into play –Zotero. 

I found out about this citation software in my fourth year of studies, and let me tell you, my whole essay and thesis writing experience changed. Zotero is a free citation software programme, which you can access by creating a free account, which enables you to get to your source library from any computer or device. Zotero will keep all your sources in order and create references and citations for you in your chosen style. All you need to do to save a source (website, PDF, video, etc.) to your Zotero library, is to get yourself the Zotero add on for Chrome, and simply click the Zotero button when your desired content is open on your browser. More detailed instructions on how to download and use Zotero can be found here: GET ZOTERO

1. It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that university studies include what feels like an illegal amount of reading. This can be difficult for people with any kinds of learning disabilities or even people, who suffer from dry eyes. Not to mention, sometimes reading articles, essays, and books one after the other can be draining no matter what the conditions. Now, distance learning has resulted in most of the readings being in electronic form, which might not be everyone’s preferred medium. Electronic text does, however, give us the option to try out text to speech software that most PDF viewing programs already have inbuilt. This way you can try to do your dishes or cook lunch, or just do jumping jacks, while you listen to your required readings instead of staring at a shiny screen for hours on end. This can be a nice way to change up your study routine, and a well-earned rest for your poor eyes!

2.  As English students you will also inevitably be reading some classic literature, and while specific literature courses have course books in the forms of anthologies, sometimes for some reason, not everyone manages to get the books. Lucky for us students, Project Gutenberg exists. In their own words:

“Project Gutenberg is an online library of free eBooks. Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related content today.”

Here you’ll be able to find for example the complete works of Shakespeare in electronic form for which you won’t be needing an app or program to read them: PROJECT GUTENBERG

Practical Advice:

1. CREDIT REQUIREMENTS—DON’T OVER DO IT
   Do you remember the food pyramid they used to show us when we were little kids? The one with portions that never really translated into reality, certainly not in the school cafeteria. Yeah, well, that’s how the degree structures that get introduced to us in our orientation week feel like once you’ve tried to accomplish them. 180 credits for your bachelor’s and 120 credits for your master’s, in simple terms it would be 60 credits per academic year. However, pulling of 30 credits worth of courses during the fall and spring both can actually be a massive workload, especially if you need to work on the side. The advice here is –Don’t over do it. According to KELA, you need to complete 5 credits per month to keep your student benefits rolling. Do the best you can, while listening to your own limitations and energy levels. It’s important to remember that there are summer courses available through the open university, which can really help spread the workload through the year.

2. STUDENT DISCOUNTS—TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEM

Being a student can be financially challenging and thus having your handy student card with you while shopping is a smart move. So many places offer a small student discount and student benefits, but don’t necessarily remember to advertise this in store locations. A couple of noteworthy discounts include:

HSL, SPOTIFY, VR, K-PLUS CARD, CLAS OHLSON, ESPRESSO HOUSE…The full list is way more comprehensive and worth checking out at: FRANK STUDENT DISCOUNTS

YTHS—STUDENT HEALTH CARE—TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

As a higher education student (who has paid their healthcare fee to KELA) you have the right to access the YTHS student health care services. YTHS offers a wide range of services, which you might be able to access quicker than in the public health care system. These services include GP appointments, mental health services such as psychologist and psychiatrist evaluations, dental care, imaging services, and lab services. YTHS does not act as an urgent care facility, but they can provide you with some timely services to help you keep your health in check. Don’t hesitate to contact them if you feel the need to do so. They literally have one job, and it’s to take care of us students! You can read more about the organization here: YTHS

In any case, here are some contact numbers you might want to write down:
Phone
Mon–Thu 8 am–3 pm, Fri 8 am–2 pm
General and mental health services 046 710 1073
Oral health services 046 710 1085

In General

I cannot imagine what it is like to start your university life during a pandemic that seems to be everlasting, but I do hope these tips will be helpful to you new (and old) students. If I had to give some last unsolicited advice, it would be to try to socialize with your fellow students. That being said, it will be more difficult now than it was back when I started, what with studies being online and events sparser. Luckily though, SUB and its fellow organizations have worked around the current restrictions and limitations by organizing online hang outs and movie nights etc. The best support I’ve gotten during my studies has come from my fellow students, and thankfully us English students seem to always have a few tips up our sleeves. So, if you’re not sure about something, go ahead and ask!