Tinka Valentijn, member of the class of 2016, is now studying Machine Learning and Data Mining at Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. Curious how she ended up there and prepared for this master program? This is her story.
“During ATLAS I got very interested in Machine Learning and wanted to pursue my masters in that. I particularly want to understand the mathematics of the algorithms and to be able to program the models myself.” In the Netherlands, machine learning on graduate level is offered in Amsterdam. So why not go there? “In the first place, I really liked the study program in Finland. However, for my semester abroad, I also went to Aalto University and I very much enjoyed the country. If I had not been there before, I probably would not have dared to live in Finland for two years.”
To prepare for her master, Tinka took two machine learning courses and she did her bachelor thesis on machine learning as well. But being honest, Tinka was not very well prepared for the program from a pure knowledge perspective, as she was missing a strong computer science background. Despite struggling the first semester, Tinka managed to pass all her courses. “Somehow, ATLAS taught me how to learn lacking knowledge quickly, to keep trying, and to be very aware of my own learning. This has helped me succeed.”
Student life in Finland is great: “Every study association has its own coloured overall for which you can earn badges and a matching cap if you perform certain tasks. There are also many sports and culture clubs and every night there is a sauna party; enjoying drinks and singing songs in the sauna with too many people.”
Before Tinka started her master degree in Finland, she was part of the organizing board of Create Tomorrow. Create Tomorrow is a large one-day event during which student teams should come up with innovative and creative solutions for real-world problems submitted by major companies and organizations. “Organizing Create Tomorrow was amazing! I learned to step out of my comfort zone and enjoyed working with many different people. ATLAS has helped me in this, as it taught me to try out new things and to work in multidisciplinary project teams.” The next edition of Create Tomorrow is in 2019 and all students are encouraged to think about joining the organizing committee, or simply participate in the event.
“Organizing Create Tomorrow has helped me in understanding what I want to do later in life. I would say that everyone should try many different things to discover what you want to learn. But don’t learn because someone tells you so; learn because you want to learn. If you are passionate about it, you will succeed eventually. And don’t be scared that ATLAS is not preparing you for the real world, even the former prime minister of Finland says that the world needs multidisciplinary talents like you!”
University College Twente offers a unique bachelor’s programme, Technology, Liberal, Arts and Sciences, to top students. Visit the University College Twente website for more information about the college and Technology, Liberal, Arts and Sciences website for more information about the bachelor program. Or visit us during the open day, a student-for-a-day or an insight-day.
