International Tutoring in Tero-ble hands! *winky face*
Uhh is this thing on? Yeah? Yeah!! Hey there! My name’s Tero Björkman and I’m that guy responsible for international and degree tutoring here at JAMKO this year. I was asked to write a bit about myself for our blog this week so here I am!
I’m not originally from Jyväskylä. I mostly come from Raahe, which is in the Northern Ostrobothnia area of Finland. You know, near Oulu! I study IT and specialise in computer programming. Before I came here, I studied metalworking. Quite a paradigm shift, huh! I used to forge all sorts of things as a blacksmith in training, but now I work with my other passion: video games!
So you might be wondering: what is a shy computer nerd doing in JAMKO? Don’t they just want to stay in their cave and play video games?! Well… I do!! I do also, however, really enjoy being involved with people from outside of Finland. After you live in the same country for 25 years, things can get a little stale! Foreigners really spice things up here, so I want to help them have a good time. This way they’ll want to stay and make Finland a more fun place to be in.
Originally, I could have never dreamed that I would join something half as big as JAMKO.. After I came back from Vancouver I was content to just play my videogames. Happy accidents seem to happen, though, and just as how it was an accident I ended up in Jyväskylä’s University of Applied Sciences, fate’s hand guided me to JAMKO as well. Well, here fate was actually called Linda! I joined the international tutor force a year ago and Linda Holma decided I should follow in her footsteps in JAMKO. At first I was a tad reserved about it, as you are about everything as a shy nerd. Linda managed to convince me to step up though, and the rest is history!
So far there have been some downs but mostly it’s been ups. We have such a wonderful team here at JAMKO. The others are such great characters and we’re all driven to serve our students to the best of our abilities!
As for how I plan to do my best in this? Well, we have just selected our international and degree tutors for the next year! Now it’s time to give them the training they need for their work as tutors. I’m honored to be by the side of JAMKO’s guidance and well-being advisor, Karoliina Vallipuro, in this endeavour! She’s one swell lass and we, along with the awesome team of upcoming tutors we selected, are sure to make this year great for Finns and foreigners alike here at JAMK!
Tero Björkman, International and degree tutoring