Meet Sean, a current bachelor’s student at the University of Turku and an UTUambassador 2025-2026!
"Hey there! I’m Sean – a student in the Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Information and Communication Technology.
I’m from sunny (and comparatively crowded) Singapore – after finishing my Polytechnic diploma studies in Cybersecurity, I decided to further my studies in Turku. I've been involved in initiatives to teach coding and app development to high school kids back home, so furthering my studies in ICT was a no-brainer for me. I really like the flexibility of the programme and the University. You can actually study anything at the University! After graduating from your Bachelor’s, you can even choose between several tracks for your master's degree, depending on your preferences.
Outside of school, you might hear my (admittedly unpolished!) singing and guitar – I love music and I’m working on covering some of my favorite songs. I also love a lot of Japanese vocal synthesiser music, so I also write singable translated lyrics for my favorite vocal synth songs. I also love photography and writing!
Hope to see you around Turku! Feel free to reach out."
Sean's study experience:
Studying at the University is a liberating experience! I love the freedom and trust that the University places on its students to learn at their own pace whilst still placing strong emphasis on academic excellence. Turku is a city in which you get to be yourself - and the University is no different in this regard. The faculty and staff are very open and there's plenty of supporting resources, from the really helpful professors and staff for academics, to the extensive amount of student organisations for student representation! I feel like the University is a place where my voice can be heard and valued regardless of who I am, and have the agency to shape my study experience in the way I want.
Are you a trailblazer - someone who wants to pave the way forward for students, present and future? I think you'll be a great fit for the ICT degree programme! You'll get plenty of expeirence in many disciplines across computer science, surrounded by great faculty and a good stake in the programme's future.
In my past life in Singapore I been involved in initiatives to teach coding and app development to high school kids back home, so furthering my studies in ICT was a no-brainer for me. After finishing my Polytechnic diploma studies in Cybersecurity back in Singapore, I got offers from all of the major universities in Singapore, each of which are prestigious institutions in their own right - but I ended up realising that it wouldn't have been the right environment for me to flourish. So I looked to many places abroad - but it was a trip to visit my friends in Sweden that made me realise that the Nordics were the change of pace I was looking for.
The International Bachelor's students are part of very new programmes at the University, so it does feel like we have a lot of agency in shaping how the program might evolve in the future - from curriculum to classroom. Your feedback is generally listened to and the faculty is very keen on hearing it.
...no idea! Right now I'm debating on whether I should continue on in the ICT masters', but I do think that I'd also like to pursue something more in education, since I've always been very interested in pedagogy. It really depends on the opportunities I'll get in the future, I suppose.
I like to describe Finland as a very boring country, in a nice way - there is nothing to do and you will enjoy it. I do play games quite a bit, hanging out with friends online. I also try and play the guitar and cover songs from time to time, as well as working on new lyrics for songs I want to translate! When the weather isn't too dreary I also enjoy biking around Turku.