International Alum Story: Lilia Nora Adamou

For my bachelor's degree, I wanted to study psychology, so I chose the United Kingdom where I lived for the 3 years of my studying. During my second and final years in the UK, I began questioning where I wanted to do my master's degree. I wanted to do my master's in neuroscience in English and preferably within the European Union.  I applied to the Human Neuroscience master's degree program at the University of Turku and was accepted. 

I chose Turku because it is a student-friendly city with a large international community. The university has plenty of programs and activities in English which I really appreciated.

During my 2 years there, I gained research and clinical experience through my courses, thesis research project, and a clinical traineeship I was fortunate to get at the Turku University Hospital.  The first year was hectic and demanding in terms of workload but I managed to find a rhythm that worked for me.

Unfortunately, the pandemic began during the second half of my first year, so most of the lectures were online. It was sometimes hard to keep up the motivation and rhythm. So, I started going to the university libraries every day at 9 o'clock with a friend who was also a classmate. This managed to make us both much more productive, get work done, and socialise as well. 

During my time in Turku, I was also part of the Finnish Red Cross and I volunteered as a refugee support worker at the Finnish Refugee Council (Suomen Pakolaisapu), where I assisted refugees settling in Finland and learning the Finnish language. 

In terms of networking, I was very active on LinkedIn. I connected with my professors and professionals in my field in the Turku area. I highly recommend students do the same, as I managed to get my traineeship at the hospital this way. Never hesitate to connect and ask your professors or thesis supervisors for tips and guidance. They may have opportunities such as internships, summer jobs, and connections for you.  

My overall experience in Turku was very positive. I truly enjoyed living and studying there. At times, it was challenging but I managed to acquire good experiences, important connections, a master's degree and beautiful memories. My advice is to be as active as possible and reach out to people through social media to get the best out of your university experience.