A privilege to learn from peers
Mairead Howley studied Spanish Language and Culture with a minor in Mathematics at the New College of Florida, Sarasota, Florida. During that period, Mairead worked at a Spanish Immersion summer camp for three summers. Her bachelor’s thesis topic was Spanish as a Second Language, Teaching Methods, and Practice and upon graduation, she worked as a primary school assistant at a Montessori school.
Mairead was interested in moving to Finland because her grandmother is Finnish; thus, she looked into degrees in Education across the country.
"I chose to attend the University of Oulu because of the Education and Globalisation programme and the chance to experience living in Finland."
Chance to take many exciting elective courses
"The Education and Globalisation programme interested me because of the chance to study here and incorporate Finnish courses into a master's degree programme and the combination of teaching pedagogy and methodology with sociology and policy aspects of education," Mairead explains.
Mairead likes studying at the University of Oulu because she has been able to connect with peers from many different experiences. "They have different perspectives and goals on the coursework and the whole experience of living in Finland," Mairead comments.
"The programme offers me the chance to take many exciting elective courses, including the Finnish language, and connect with my peers in and out of the classroom."
"We had a lovely Education and Globalisation picnic in the fall where I was able to connect informally with past alumni of the program," Mairead adds. The chance to eat, laugh and play while sharing some of their hopes and experiences with the programme set Mairead up for an exciting year.
A lovely experience
Mairead is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the USA. "My first impression of Finland was that it is similar to Minnesota. I was able to spend more than a month in a cultural exchange with a Finnish family and had a lovely experience with Finnish summer," Mairead comments.
Mairead has most enjoyed her connections with her peers in the Education and Globalisation programme while exploring Oulu and Finland with them. "I love exploring Oulu and playing in the orchestra," Mairead adds.
"I feel privileged to be with such an interesting and exciting group of people."
Mairead wants to continue to deepen her understanding of the educational sciences and expand the connections she sees between the field and other sections of academia. "I hope to strengthen my connections with people outside of my cohort in the future and beyond this university."
