Meet Linnea Varamäki: our very own rising star in international business

From classroom projects to real-world success

Hello! My name is Linnea and I’m from Finland. I’m studying for a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business at LAB University of Applied Sciences on the Lahti campus. I am currently writing my thesis and aiming to graduate this spring. 

During my second semester, I attended a course called Digital Marketing, during which we formed groups and created marketing plans for different case companies. Our group had 2nd-year and 3rd-year students as well as me and another first-year student, so we also got to learn from the ones studying for a longer time. We got LAB as the case company. Little did I know that, in a couple of years, I would be working as a marketing coordinator for the same company, even before graduating.

“I knew I had found my number one school”

At the upper secondary level, I studied in both general upper secondary school and vocational qualification in Business. After that, the plan was to have a gap year, but after working at the local supermarket and a clothing store as a cashier for the summer I wanted to go back to school. 

Luckily for me, the autumn joint application was starting in under a month. English had been one of my favourite subjects in school, and academic writing in English had weirdly felt more natural in English than in Finnish in upper secondary school. Of course, I also wanted to improve my English skills and would like to work in an international company or even abroad. 

I investigated the schools that had Bachelor of Business Administration taught in English and when I saw the pictures of LAB’s Lahti campus, I knew I had found my number one school. I had wanted to move further from my home city and did not want to pay the rent prices in Helsinki, where my best friend was living at the time.

Working in multicultural groups has many benefits

I remember my mom worrying if I was sure that I could study in English and that it would be more difficult than studying in Finnish. I just kept thinking that it couldn’t be that difficult. Luckily, I decided to have International Business as the first option, I have been able to learn about business and in a way by accident get more skilled in English while doing it. And even though I am not studying in my native language, my grades have never been this high. Also, I don’t need to prove my language skills when applying for jobs or a master’s degree, my degree certificate will be enough. 

Our class had around 40 students, of which about 10 spoke Finnish. So, there I was suddenly in a new city in which my life was fully in English, both in school and free time. I got to learn more about Finnish culture from the point of view of my classmates as well as their countries and cultures. I remember the time my Vietnamese classmate saw a brown hare for the first time and was terrified that there were rabbits that huge. The different cultures also taught us a lot about teamwork in multicultural groups, things that seem obvious to people from the same culture when it comes to teamwork may not be obvious to others; this taught us to communicate even better and to create shared principles for teamwork. However, there were also challenges having such a diverse group during the Covid-19 and remote studies.

"Being an active member of the student community has taught me a lot"

I applied to be an exchange student tutor as a fresher, not knowing it would not only lead to getting new friends out of exchange students but also becoming the head tutor for the business faculty’s exchange tutors as well as the role of International Executive at the Student Union KOE, Communications Manager and later on the Vice Chairperson in Lahden Tradenomiopiskelijat LINKKI ry. Not to mention founding the Exchange students of Lahti ESLA ry which now goes by the name ESN Lahti, where I currently am the marketing and communications manager and all this, of course, being part of my degree. Not only have I learned a lot about leadership and running an association by being active in the community, but I also got my current job because of it. 

Being an active member of the student community has taught me a lot, probably more than I even realise. It taught me more about the importance of planning and focusing on the important parts, as well as being more efficient. Working in a voluntary environment has been educational, especially being in the leader role, learning how to keep others motivated, and making sure the workload is as equal as possible. Most of these skills cannot be taught and must be learned by doing. 

Apart from learning, being actively involved was particularly advantageous for forming new friendships. Through my participation, I’ve made friends from diverse backgrounds, including both LAB and LUT students, from Lahti and Lappeenranta, international and native. For example, when going to different student events, I could just show up knowing I already have several friends present.

Learning management skills and gaining international experience

When it comes to student life, something for students is happening every week in Lahti – except for summer. This means that there are a lot of possibilities to make new friends, and one of my favourite things about Lahti as a student city is that unlike in many places, both the University and University of Applied Sciences students are one community. And if some event isn’t for one specific field of study, it’s for everyone.  Lahti was ranked as the 5th best student city in Finland for 2024 by Studentum.fi. The city excelled in student housing availability, job opportunities for graduates, and leisure and sports facilities.

There are checkpoint events, picnics, appros, sitz parties, sports events, and theme parties. It is a great community. The most meaningful parts of being an active student have been acting as the vice chair of my own faculty’s association LINKKI ry, founding a completely new association, and bringing a new overall colour to Lahti. There I learned management skills and gained international experience. Rebuilding the community and starting new traditions in the student culture of Lahti after the old ones were partly forgotten during lockdowns and seeing the other students enjoy and have fun in our events, has been rewarding. 

This rewarding experience was highlighted at the Professionals of Business and Technology Christmas party. A few of us got recognized nationally. I received a certificate of honour and a BBA Students’ scarf for my work in developing the association’s activities, especially by improving communication and promoting the BBA identity. These acknowledgements show the value of our hard work and dedication.

Already looking ahead

Regarding my plans for the future, I am all the time more and more interested in doing a master’s degree in something more marketing-related, will see if I end up as a student at LUT. As someone who never really liked studying and wasn’t that good in school, it’s weird to be seriously considering applying to master’s programmes. In my more long-term plans, I am interested in brand management and marketing research – preferably in international companies.