At the age of eight she started to learn German and after finishing high school she got an internship in a small town near Ulm for four months. ‘After I moved back to Finland, I started to miss Germany. I felt like I had left my heart there. So, I began to travel to Germany four times a year, but it wasn’t enough. In 2023 I decided to study in Germany. I sold my apartment and my belongings and moved in with my parents for a year to make this happen. This is the story of how I chose to study in Germany, all because of the Sissi films. Kind of funny, that I lost my heart to Germany at the age of six and now I’m living here and I making my dream come true.’
International students - from Finland to Hamburg
Jonna
After seven months of living in Hamburg, I love it here and can’t wait to make new friends through my bachelor studies in International Business at HAW Hamburg.
Coming to Hamburg was more of an accident than something she planned. ‘I applied to several universities and got accepted in smaller cities. But I knew that I needed a big city around me because I’m such an extroverted person. I didn’t want to wait any longer to move to Germany, so I quickly applied to a private university here in Hamburg to study Business Management, hoping to switch to HAW Hamburg after the first semester. I hadn’t been to Hamburg before, but I wanted a fresh start in a new city. I’m happy I made this decision, and now, after seven months of living in Hamburg, I love it here and can’t wait to make new friends through my bachelor studies in International Business at HAW Hamburg.’
Jonna has several years of work experience in video production, marketing and sales and she is looking forward to extending her knowledge of business management further to include finance, economics and global business. She plans to work for a large global cooperation after graduating. And at the same time continue her other passion – competitive bodybuilding. ‘As a child I played Finnish baseball for ten years until injuries meant I had to stop. I went to the gym because I needed some sort of sport, and it was there I fell in love with working out. I could say I’m a certain kind of masochist in a way because I love strict diets and hard training. Later I found a coach and in 2019 I started competing in the bikini fitness class. I’m from a small countryside village called Hämeenkyrö, which is 45 kilometres from Tampere. The population of my hometown is 10,000 people, which is quite large in Finland. Going to competitions allows me to travel to different countries and see new places. It’s amazing that through bodybuilding I can connect two things I love: sports and traveling.’
Text & photo: Ingrid Weatherall
Contact
Ingrid Weatherall
International Office
International Student Marketing
