Unique way of learning, sauna and Helsinki city life: German exchange student Greta enjoyed her time at Humak
Greta Bernstone, 21, experienced Finland and Humak as an exchange student in the autumn semester of 2024.
Arriving in Finland on the 1st of September, we meet up with Greta just before Christmas as she gets ready to bid Finland farewell. Last minute thoughts of your time at Humak?
“I’m quite sad to leave. Time has really flown by.”
But before saying goodbye to Greta, let’s rewind a bit. What did the first months in Finland look like? And what made Greta choose Humak and Finland in the first place?
Greta studies communication psychology at The Hochschule Zittau / Görlitz, a college located in the small town of Görlitz, on the eastern part of Germany. Originally from the buzzling capital of Berlin, Greta missed the feeling of living in a bigger city. Experiencing life abroad was a thrilling chance she didn’t want to miss.
“I wanted to do the exchange for the experience. My own college isn’t that well connected internationally and the choice in partnership schools was limited, but I was happy to see Finland and Humak on the list. I was thrilled to come here.”
Broadening horizons
Leaving her home in Germany behind, Greta travelled with her boyfriend and friend who also wanted to experience life abroad. None of them had ever been to Finland before, but, for Greta, a new country wasn’t the only big change; she also started studying in Humak’s Adventure Education programme, which offered new perspectives to her studies back home. Greta has enjoyed her courses in topics like leadership and sustainability.
“My courses are not similar to what I have been studying in Germany. But I think it’s been very beneficial to study new things. I can take so many things from these courses with me when I travel back home. Here, I feel like I’ve broadened my horizons.”
Theory meets practice
Studying together with Humak’s other exchange students has been a great learning experience. In 2024, the students were also joined by Dutch lecturer Jos Vaes, who was also completing his teacher exchange at Humak.
“Together with Jos, we’ve talked about the things that are different at Humak. It’s the way of learning. The focus is on self-learning, which I think is awesome. I even got this as feedback on one of my essays. My teacher wrote: ‘you applied a lot of theory, but we would have liked more of your own reflection’. I’ve never heard that before. This has been eye-opening.”
But what makes this approach so unique? Greta explains:
“All my life, focus has always been on facts. Humak’s way of teaching and learning is not just theory, but also applying it to real life. This feels very authentic. I’ve also enjoyed the way teachers really want to learn from us students. Teachers include students, which affects the energy in the classroom. There were always open discussions and learning from others. In my opinion, this really improves overall inclusion.”
Nature and saunas
For Greta, Finland had both familiar and new elements. Being half-Swedish, Greta appreciated finding information in both Finnish and Swedish. And when you live in Finland from early September, marking the end of summer, to the end of December, you get to experience almost all of the Finnish seasons.
“I really like life here. In Helsinki, I lived near Linnanmäki amusement park. Near everything, but still close to nature. I feel like the city makes itself very liveable. During the warmer months, I rode city bikes everywhere and, after that, I have enjoyed the public transport. It feels like the city is built around nature.”
The darkness of Finnish winter didn’t get you down, then?
“I feel inspired and motivated by how active people are despite the weather. Even when it got darker, people are just living their normal lives. At first, I was surprised to see people going for a run even though it was dark. I’ve also fallen in love with sauna. I will really miss Sompasauna public sauna and dips in the Baltic Sea.”
Strong recommendation
While moving to a foreign country can sound scary, Greta was grateful of the experience.
“I can recommend Humak as a school and Helsinki as a city. In Helsinki, there are so many things you can do. The city is versatile and well connected to other destinations, like national parks, Stockholm and Tallinn. You can really do a lot with your time here and the studies do not feel like a burden.”
Although moving between countries creates its own difficulties, the experience is rewarding. Greta found paperwork frustrating at times, but everything worked out in the end. And now that her departure is near, final moments in Finland are bittersweet.
“Time flies faster than you think. If you’re thinking about going on student exchange, you should definitely do it.”
Originally published in December 2024
