The International Learning Environment at Porvoo Campus

INTERVIEW

Name: Liisi Korhonen
Institution: HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences
Degree Programme: Tourism

Learning by doing

Liisi Korhonen is having her third and final year at HAAGA-HELIA. Liisi lives in Helsinki and wanted to study near Helsinki. She had gotten the impression that HAAGA-HELIA  has a good reputation. Liisi had always been interested in languages, and applied to several universities to study languages, but since she did not get accepted, she accidentally found out about HAAGA-HELIA’s English degrees and The Degree Programme in Tourism seemed to be the most interesting.

– During the first semester I was surprised how much business studies we had, but we just needed to understand that tourism is business. I did not have that many expectations of the courses etc before I started my studies, so I have been satisfied with the courses we have had. The most valuable lesson that I have learned is simply learning bo doing -attitude!

Studies include lots of team work. Liisi finds it a bit difficult to combine team members’ schedules and co-operation between multinational teams. Sometimes the amount of work can also be overwhelming. So many projects and you would like to do everything well!

International environment in Porvoo

On a basic day at school Liisi travels from Helsinki to Porvoo by carpool. Her school day usually starts by ten and students normally work within groups. The length of our working days can be something between a couple of hours to even ten hours. It depends on the current situation with the project or team work. Students can work either in classrooms or in various learning spaces.

– Our projects have given us good tools to work-life! We work with real people and commissioner and we have company visits, during which we can see the real things. I have understood afterwards how many things we actually have learnt. My major is Corporate Travel Management.

Liisi recommends Porvoo for new students who are thinking about their study places: 

– If someone wants to study in a truly international environment even in little town like Porvoo it is very possible! One can study in English, Swedish, Finnish – be it tourism or business. Inquiry learning and team work give an irreplaceable knowledge. There are also quite many student parties in Porvoo and they are being advertised at the Campus, so everyone will know what is happening and when.