Student interview
From hectic Mexico City to quiet Helsinki
Martha Vera Bermudez, 33, met her Finnish-Swedish future husband some 12 years ago in her native country Mexico.
This was the trigger of her and Finland¿s connection. In 1997 she had a Finnish teacher in Mexico City.
¿I learned that Finland has a high standard of education and technology. I became interested in studying in Finland some day¿, Vera Bermudez says.
Vera Bermudez took Bachelor¿s Degree in Mexico City educative communication as her major. After that she worked as journalist and entrepreneur in her hometown and ended up teaching Spanish for teenagers in Amiens, France.
¿I was thinking about Master¿s studies at Sorbonne University in Paris when my fiancé proposed to me and I moved to Helsinki. I began at the University of Helsinki as a visiting student in May 2003¿.
After successful studies at the Department of Communication, Martha Vera Bermudez got a right to study Master¿s level.
¿I am involved in an international Argonaut Study Programme specialized in information society. I am hoping to graduate in spring 2007¿.
Martha Vera Bermudez values the teaching at the University.
¿The Professors are the best that I have faced. We have had interesting lectures by a range of Media Experts, Philosophers, Researchers and Journalists. Vera Bermudez is also pleased with the freedom of choice: One can take either book exams or follow courses to collect credits¿.
Besides the studying culture almost everything in Finland was different and demanded adjusting at first.
¿But silence and nature charmed me from the beginning. Helsinki is a very clean city. People are well-educated and very competitive¿, Vera Bermudez tells.
¿Only unpleasant experience I have faced was the unemployment at the beginning. You have to be really active to find a job. Without Finnish skills it isn¿t easy¿.
Vera Bermudez got lucky: Along with her studies, she works as a trainee in Finnish Broadcasting Company¿s programme researching multicultural messages in media.
Vera Bermudez finds Finnish language very difficult.
¿But I am eager to learn because I want to get along here. We speak Spanish, English and sometimes Swedish with my husband so I don¿t get any practice of Finnish language at home¿.
Martha Vera Bermudez shouldn¿t be too modest what it comes to her knowledge of language, though: She managed to follow Master¿s seminar in Finnish.
Vera Bermudez is staying in Helsinki after graduating.
¿I really appreciate the free education that Finland provides. I want to give something back for this country and work here¿.
Work with documentaries and journalism interest her the most. But first she is going to concentrate on the most precious role: She and her husband are expecting a baby to be born in October 2006.
Text: Minna Rauhansalo
Photo: Veikko Somerpuro
