Friendship, partnership and fun time together: TalTech memories from recent graduates
Last week Hiruni Gunaratne and André Lezan graduated from E-Governance Technologies and Services MSc programme, while Müge Çelebi Gür received her Master’s diploma in Business Administration. They are now all set to start a new period in their life with no exams, studying overnight nor going to lectures. How will they remember their student times and what is expecting them ahead? Our recent graduates from Sri Lanka, Brazil and Turkey are sharing their TalTech memories and plans for future.
TalTech memories
Hiruni: I don’t know where to start, because I have a ton of memorable moments. I remember like it was yesterday when I got my acceptance letter and the scholarships. Even the event of coming here was so exciting — such a pretty country, international classmates from everywhere in the world… We have really talked about everything, not only in our free time, but also in the classroom. For example, how different e-governance strategies are implemented in different parts of the world.
I remember seeing snow for the first time, I put my hand out of the window to feel it, it was strangely beautiful. The first winter, how I experienced the Christmas markets around some European cities, gingerbread and Glögi smell. And the times I traveled whenever I got a chance, those memories are forever to keep.
Of course, at times I was really stressed and not sure everything was going well. For instance when we were about to take a Software quality exam. It is a really hard subject with no definite answers, but we gathered together with other classmates, prepared for the exam and all of us got good marks in the end.
There were endless Friday night gatherings and parties with the classmates I fondly remember, where we strengthened our friendships and discussed the problems we have in classes. Apart from the partying, there were some sessions of studying together and sometimes some of those study sessions were the main reason we passed our exams well. Well, in fact, the e-Governance graduating class of 2020 stuck together through thick and thin, I am very happy to look back and see that I have gained a lot of friends from around the world. I will definitely miss our truly international e-gov family.
André: The very beginning was full of awkward and fun moments, from buying wrong items in the grocery store like the classical mistake of buying kefir instead of milk but the most tragic one was burning half of my clothes in the laundry machine in the dorm. Don’t ask me why but I thought that the selection between 30, 40, 60 and 95 was minutes and not the temperature in the machine… I notice that no matter the number I put there the price was the same 2 euros, so I thought hmm why should I pay 2 euros for 30 minutes when I can have 95 minutes for the same money. Value for money right? Well, I put 95 and when I came back to pick my clothes half of the load in the machine was burned, weird or 2 sizes smaller. That’s how I learned, in a hard way, to avoid looking for bargains or value for money deals in everything.
Müge: A picture above is a picture of me in front of Taltech. This picture is from the day that I received acceptance at the university. This picture has in a way a long story behind it. Me and my current husband were not married at that time yet, but he was already studying in Taltech. So for 1 year, he was living in Tallinn and I was living in Istanbul. It was so hard for both of us, because we had been together for so long. After he moved to Estonia I got the idea to apply for the MBA programme — to advance in my education and also join my boyfriend in Estonia.
First, I received the acceptance with tuition fee. Unfortunately at that time I didn’t have enough income to pay for my studies and so I was planning to reject the offer. Couple of weeks later, I traveled to Tallinn to visit my boyfriend and on the very same day, I received the email that the university has granted a tuition fee waiver to me. I was so so happy! This picture was taken just a couple of hours later after I got the news.
Also, the same day, my boyfriend proposed to me. He was actually already planning it but was waiting for my visit in Tallinn. But when taking the picture I didn’t know about it. I felt it was such a nice coincidence that I was in Tallinn that day and I received my university acceptance and got engaged! It was like Estonia was calling me :D
The things I’ll miss
Hiruni: The thing I’ll miss the most is the time spent with my classmates — during classes, hanging out in the cafeteria or during our regular meet-ups on Fridays. I will also miss the times in the dorm, fun times.
André: Our class was very united, for sure the friendship that we had and partnership during all the courses was something special that I’ll remember from my group and TalTech in general as people seemed to be always very open and collaborative in pretty much all courses I took.
Müge: I miss having nice conversations with my classmates. Our class was very diverse, and I was enjoying interacting with people from many different cultures.
After-graduation plans
Hiruni: For now, I will keep working at my current Job as an IT System Analyst. I have some ideas about doing further studies if I come across a really interesting and a practical topic. But then again I like to work in the industry as a professional. Well, I have not decided yet and I plan to think about it during the summer holidays.
André: I’ll keep working, exploring new places and learning
Müge: I currently live and work in Tallinn. I don’t have any plans to go back to my country or move to another city/country. I enjoy living in Estonia and I really like Tallinn. My husband is also working here and we both love Tallinn. We are even considering buying our own apartment and settling in completely. We have just finished Estonian language A2 course and passed the government exam. In winter, we will continue on B1 level. So, we will stay here as a Turkish couple.
