Forensic Investigation student broadens her horizons thanks to amazing exchange opportunity in Finland

A GCU student has had the chance to broaden her horizons in a life-changing exchange programme in Finland.

GCU has a wide range of exchange partners from across the world, allowing students to expand their academic, cultural and personal networks in countries like Australia, USA, South Korea, France and Spain.

Final year Forensic Investigation student Ellie Holland decided to apply for an exchange programme in the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki, Finland, which has helped transform her confidence in both her academic and personal life.

“I decided to study an exchange programme because it was an amazing opportunity. I really wanted to experience a completely different way of life, culture, type of study and when I heard about the opportunity to do it as part of my course, I thought it sounded really interesting,” she explained.

While completing her studies in Helsinki, Ellie explained how the university encouraged students to travel and experience the neighboring countries. She said: “My exchange programme brought me to Helsinki in Finland and I got the chance to study at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences . At that point, I had never visited anywhere that had minus degree weather and snow all throughout winter!

We got to do lots of different trips and had the chance to travel outside of Helsinki as well. While I was there, we got to visit Sweden, Estonia, Norway and even Lapland!”

As well as having the chance to travel, Ellie got to learn about the local traditions amongst the student community, which includes wearing colourful overalls and covering them in fabric patches, known in Finnish as ‘Haalarit’.

The idea behind the tradition is to allow students to have a sense of belonging amongst their course subject, involving wearing a colour which is associated to your type of university programme. Students are then encouraged to cover the suit in fabric patches which symbolise their hobbies, social events and local student bars.

During her time in Finland, Ellie was able to experience different study methods which she has been able to bring to her Forensic Investigation course back in GCU. She explained: “I learned a completely different style of study when I was there, which has helped me realise that I can transfer a lot of the skills that I gained there into my course at GCU.

For example, I have learned laboratory based skills while in Helsinki and it’s very different to what I have learned so far in my course. I’ve also found that I’ve got a lot more confidence; being able to try things that I never had the chance to do before has made me feel like I can do anything that I set my mind to.”

Now looking back at her experience, Ellie would highly recommend for students from similar courses to consider completing an exchange programme. She said: “I would consider doing an exchange programme because it really stands out when it comes to employers.

While I was studying in Finland, we got to work with different companies and projects that focused on radiation, the police and marine forensics. These are all areas of work that I can now see myself working with in the future; it really has opened up so many exciting opportunities.”

Find out more about Exchange Programme opportunities on the GCU website

By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media