It's been one semester (eight weeks) since I started my second degree in the Bachelor's program in Electrical Engineering at LUT University. After the first semester is over, it's a good time to stop and reflect on the first weeks and experiences of combining work and study.
The first day of university was very rewarding thanks to the diverse events during the freshmen weeks. It was a pleasure to get to know many new and talented freshmen. Even though I am a student one degree older, I was warmly welcomed by both new and older students. It was heartwarming when some of the older students came to greet me especially at the evening events and said they were happy that I had returned to student life. I didn't expect it, but especially in those first weeks I felt like a genuine freshman again. Behind the warm experiences was the famous LUT Skinnarila spirit 😊.
Once the initial excitement had subsided and the actual studies began, balancing work and study schedules proved to be a bit challenging at first, especially since it was not entirely clear when I was required to be on campus. However, over the weeks, the schedules became clearer, and the coordination became significantly easier. Fortunately, my employer Danfoss Editron has proven to be very flexible with schedules, and the university has also made the necessary arrangements, which has made managing the challenging schedule much smoother.
Studying alongside a full-time job is demanding, and studies have taken up many evenings. On the other hand, additional studies have also been extremely rewarding, as they support practical work excellently. Often, themes emerge during the working day that I get to delve into in my studies, and vice versa, the theoretical insights gained from my studies are quickly put into practice in working life. This strong synergy lightens the load on both sides and makes both work and studies even more meaningful and efficient. My background in software engineering also continues to play a significant role, helping me understand the software side of the work and supporting learning more broadly.
The first semester ended with an intensive exam week, which offered several tests in a short period of time. Although the week was challenging at times, as a more experienced student I did not experience much stress, and it was even nice to get back to exams, because taking exams is such a student-like thing. It has been interesting to see how different degree programs utilize very different assessment methods. For example, in software engineering studies, the assessment was strongly focused on practical exercises. It remains to be seen whether later electrical engineering courses will be assessed in different ways.
As someone who values knowledge and learning new things, I have greatly enjoyed the new challenges of work and the variety of my studies. It is inspiring to see what future courses and assignments will bring and how they will together build stronger skills for the future.
Original LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/roni-juntunen_its-been-now-one-period-8-weeks-since-activity-7387849527661318144-6ieQ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACYer78BYhofAZaGlSbg9AgPzjHO2tte8iw
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