This place feels like home!

I came from Serbia to study Information Technology. I am a slightly crazy and adventurous girl from Belgrade. I knew about the high quality of education in Finland, and after some online searching, I also found out about Centria. 
The thing I like the most about my studies at Centria is the relationship with the teachers: I believe that they are there for me, they are so kind, and it feels like people here would go out of their way to support me. 
During my studies, I have been studying so-called engineering basics during the two first years (physics, maths, logic, …. ) and now we are going deeper into professional courses, with programming and mobile software development. We have also been learning different programming languages. Throughout our classes, we have had many different kinds of projects; making games, webpages… working with people from different countries has been enriching and fun!

The Open University has given me the possibility to expand my knowledge by studying courses, which are not offered at Centria, such as medical engineering. I plan to apply to a Master’s programme in Biomedical Engineering, and both studies at Centria and the Open University courses have been supporting me in my plans. 
Aside from my studies, I have been involved in the student union COPSA, being a student representative helping integrate international students. I am also working for the local volleyball club Kokkolan Tiikerit; I am their scout, which means that I code their moves at home games and gather data from them to provide statistics. The coach and players then use these figures to improve their game. This job combines everything I love: IT and volleyball!

To anybody considering studies in Finland or Centria, I would just say: take a leap of faith, you will not regret it! Immerse yourself in the Finnish culture, learn about the culture and habits, become a local like me!

Sonja Rajic, Bachelor of engineering

All set towards my dream job!

I came to Finland because I was playing professional ice hockey and my career led me to Kokkola. Along with doing sports I was offered a job where I worked at for a one year before realizing that I wanted to use the opportunity of Finland’s free education system and there happened to be a university of applied sciences at Kokkola. I had a gap year after finishing high school, so I had a lot to prepare when applying to the university. Luckily the application process went well and I completed my entrance exams, and I got accepted at Centria.

Kokkola is a great town for students. It is a small city where all the places that students need are located close by and there is a great local community which will help if necessary.

Everyone has a dream job, and that’s also my case. I would really like to continue living in Finland, work in some Finnish IT company, perform well and advance in my career in the field of Information Technology.
 I know that in the future people will rely more and more on technology.

Centria offers studies in the field of Information Technology, which concentrate a lot on practical knowledge. Teachers with huge experience in IT are offering great and interactive teaching, which is really necessary because IT is such a technical field that hands-on experience is useful. 

Nauris Enkuzens