Quality education brought Melissa from Brazil to Vaasa

Information Technology has global career opportunities, and the studies are a great advantage on the job market.

Quality education brought Melissa from Brazil to Vaasa

Growing up in Vitória, Brazil, Melissa Gimenes Avarenga Ferrari was a bit of a fan of Finland.

– I remember having a Finnish flag on my wall at the age of 14. It was kind of weird to be honest, since I did not know, I was going to end up studying in Finland.

Melissa did however have a plan to study abroad. She had heard good things about European universities and pondered her options.

– In Brazil, there are many universities that provide a high-quality education in IT. However, some people in other countries are not aware of that, so I thought maybe if I studied in Europe I would be a more competitive candidate when applying jobs because employers already trust Finnish education which is known to be one of the best in the world, Melissa says.

So, she decided to move to Europe. This was a tiny shock to Melissa’s family, especially her father who promised the sun, moon, and the stars if only she would stay.

– But I was so bored to live in my city. I get bored easily and always look for new opportunities.

According to Melissa, Vitória is a medium-size city. From the Finnish point of view, a city of 400 000 people is actually quite large, but the two countries differ in many other ways, too.

– In Finland, the stores close very early! And there are so many blonde people. People are also very shy. I was considered shy in Brazil, and here people see me as an outgoing person, Melissa counts some of the differences.

Teachers are on your side

A lot of international students are astonished by how well Finns speak English. Melissa noticed this, too, and she made friends easily in Vaasa.

– I found many new friends both international and Finnish.

In Vaasa, you can get to know students from other universities as well, since there are six universities in town. Information Technology studies might be time consuming, and even hard at times, but Melissa is pleased with the educational conduct at Vaasa University of Applied Sciences.

“The teachers seem to really care about students and want to make sure they pass the degree. This is not the case in some of the top universities my friends are attending.”

Universal knowledge

Melissa is now on her second year of studies. What the future brings, is still a bit blurry for her. Nevertheless, she is convinced that her studies at VAMK are a good stepping point towards many career opportunites.

– Information Technology studies fit me really well, so my intuition tells me to stay on this track. Also, the knowledge I am now gaining is the same all over the world.

She encourages other people to take on IT as well.

– If you would like to explore and have a lot of options in life, I think IT is a great course.