Why they are in Taltach — Interview with our current students

Hey guys! so I was thinking it will be interesting to interview some of our current students in Taltech, and ask how their experience so far. Although I have been studying in Estonia for more than one year, I still remember how anxious and nervous I was before entering this university. As a result, I believe this will be a useful post for our future students (like you :P) to know how the current students feel and what they want to share with you :)

I found 4 of my good friends to do this little interview of five questions, I hope their answers can satisfy your curiosity :)

→ Why did you come to Estonia to study?
→ Why you choose this program to study?
→ Do you like Estonia so far?
→ What advice will you give to future students if they want to come to Estonia?
→ The most surprising thing you learned or experienced or saw in Estonia?

So, Let’s Get Started!!!

Hiruni Gunaratne | From Sri Lanka | Studying E-governance technologies (Master)

→ Taltech had the exact course I was looking for and the requirements matched with my profile. Therefore I applied and received a scholarship to come and study. Also, I was super excited to come to a totally different country than my home country to have a different experience.

→ I personally believe technology is the future. When I decided that I will study E-governance technologies, I knew I will be studying something futuristic and something which will have a huge impact on society anywhere ( Europe, Asia even the tiniest islands like my home country Sri Lanka). Being a computer science graduate I already had the base knowledge to carry out with my master studies. Also, this program is quite suitable for people with innovative and practical ideas on how to improve societies with technology.

→ Yes! Of course! I like Estonia! Especially because of its natural beauty. I love nature and Estonia has a good amount of nature for me to enjoy. Whenever I get a chance I travel around and now I have been to many places in Estonia. Also, I like my international community. So far I have learned a lot about other cultures and it is always interesting to discover more about people, their beliefs and cultural values.

→ I will tell the furture students : Search your options to study thoroughly. Do not choose a course if you don’t like it. Go with your passion and you will end up with something valuable after the degree. Also don’t forget to mingle with the locals, other international students and learn by experiences. Because you only get these days to mingle and have fun and collect memories for life. I would say live-laugh-love-also study!!

→ In Estonia, The whole winter experience was magical to me, because I am a person who never saw snow before :) I tried ice skating too and went to 4 Christmas markets in Europe during last winter (Tallinn, Helsinki, Dusseldorf, and Monschau). I know I love glogi lol and I can’t wait to see more of them this year. And also I went to see frozen waterfalls, frozen rivers, and frozen lakes. It was quite fascinating.

Putri Wilda Kirana | From Indonesia | Studying International Business Administration (Bachelor)

→ I have been searching for a place to study abroad a year prior decide study to Estonia, I want a place that has an international environment, have high quality in education but also affordable living cost. I also prefer the city that is not too crowded, since I prefer a quiet environment. Estonia attracted me due to the review as the international environment, the technology, and the digital system make everything more convenient.

→ I study International Business Administration (Bachelor). I want to study more about the business including marketing and finance. I think that this program is very suitable for me. The lectures in this program also very supportive and open if we have more questions.

→ I really like Estonia and being a student at Tallinn University of Technology. The country has really clean air, a simple bureaucracy system, and growing technology. Traveling across the country also very easy, I have visited other Estonian cities such as Tartu, Viljandi, Parnu, etc and it is very interesting to see the different parts of the country. In the study terms, there are many chances to improve knowledge by joining student clubs or events.

→ I will tell the furture students : Be ready to have friends from many countries, get to know a lot of cultures and always respect each other. Join a lot of students or local events will give more experiences and adapt to the environment easier.

→ I surprise that I survive the winter and actually quite enjoy it. Living with very little sunlight during the wintertime and longer days during summertime is a new experience for me and needs to adapt sometimes but it is very enjoyable. Besides study, I also join some volunteering events such as Black Tallinn Film Festival that gave me experiences in local cultures, make friends with other volunteers (international and Estonian) and how to organize big events.

Maria Del Mar Salazar| From Colombia | Design and Technology Futures (Master)

→ I first came to Estonia because I met an Estonian in Colombia (a pretty small world, right?) This is how this whole adventure started and how my curiosity for the country began. Before making a decision to move here, I decided that I wanted to visit first. Because in Colombia, we know nothing about this tiny northern country and we actually think that is covered in snow all-year-round and that you would just freeze as soon as yous step in here (haha). In the summer 2017 came to visit and absolutely loved this country, is such a cozy and quiet place, but at the same time fun! I just thought is a great combination and also saw how people have a very good lifestyle in Estonia.
Since I always wanted to study in Europe, went back to Colombia and started to look for options to move for studies to Estonia. Came across “Study in Estonia” website and this was very helpful! In this website, I found a lot of information not only about study options but also about how it is to live here and what is needed to move over. This made my life so much easier and is where I found my master’s study program.

→ I have a background in Industrial Design, while looking for options to study in Estonia, I found a very cool master’s program called Design and Technology Futures, the description of it was just exactly what I was looking for. They combine design, technology and entrepreneurship and what could be a better place for this than Estonia, know as the e-society and a start-up hub…I also saw very cool projects which students have developed in this program and the carrer paths which people have taken after graduation. All this made a lot of sense to me and I decided to concentrate all my effort into making this happen…and it worked out! After a few months, some paper work, english tests (I didn’t pass the first one and had to travel to a different city in Colombia to re-take the exam, this was a nightmare), thinkinga lot and planning, I was accepted! In general, the process was very simple, all the information was clear and there was a lot of support and guidance, people really helped me along the way and made everything easier.

→ Estonia is a country that the world is beginning to discover and that has enormous potential, it is a very welcoming country, everything is close, you can find very diverse and great events, different types of people, people from all over the world. I like living here, I feel safe, it is organized and access to services is very convenient. Estonian culture is fascinating, during my first year of studies I participated in the TalTech Chamber choir and had the opportunity to sing at the Estonian Song Festival. This was a great experience, I was singing in Estonian language, with a crowd of 100,000 people, while there, I though to myself: How on earth did it make it here?…and with tears in my eyes I felt the luckiest person for having such a magical experience. This is a country which I have learned to love and to which I am very greatful.

Lin Kikuta | From Japan | studying cybersecurity (Bachelor)

→ I came to study cybersecurity because I am interested and Estonia is one of the famous countries in this field.

→ I want to know about IT field and I thought that if I learned cybersecurity, I could study all of the Internet. Also, I felt that this field has high demand all over the world.

→ Yes, I like it! I think Estonia is a very beautiful country with a lot of nature and I think Tallinn is a comfortable place to live in. I think it’s a good point to be able to focus on my studying because it’s a quiet city.

→ I will tell the furture students :My course is taught by English, so even people who cannot speak Estonian, it can take classes. So don’t worry and come to visit our uni! However, since it is cold in winter, so don’t forget to bring some warm clothes :)

→ In Estonia, I was surprised that there are many people join the startup company. Since meet-up events are also held frequently, I felt that many people were eager to create new things.

so here is the little survey from the current students, I hope it can help you somehow. If you wanna know some specific programs, you can leave the comment below! I will try to find the student of that program to answer your questions! By the way, I am studying in Law, and specializing in International relations. You can ask me as well if you would like to study in this field :)

Happy Christmas! Now is my favorite time of the year in Estonia!