Sociable student life
Valeriya, who originally comes from Kazakhstan, sees student life as an opportunity to meet different people. She appreciates the group projects and cooperations with people from different cultural backgrounds.
"I live with 13 other students, and we meet up every day. We cook together in the common areas, so it’s easy to start a conversation. There are parties every Friday and Saturday, and there are many opportunities to meet new people."
What do you think about the student campus?
- – It’s very comfortable and I really like it. It’s a bit expensive but compared to the dormitories we have at home it’s much more comfortable. I also like that it is close to the university.
“I like Norway in general. The approach of valuing people. People are a priority here. The teachers treat students as their equals, and everyone are so welcoming.”
Working and studying
At Høgskolen i Østfold, Valeriya finds the courses in business intelligence and project management the most interesting.
Tell me about your studies?
- – At my home university my master program is called IT products and project management. But I want to enrol here at applied computer science. I have taken enough courses and I have enough credits. I only have my master theses to write here. I hope I will do it next semester.
What are you passionate about?
- – I am really into data analysis, and this is hopefully what I will be doing working for the company where I have just gotten a part time job. It is my main specialization. Working with data and finding insights into the problem and opportunities that comes with data.
What is it like working at the same time as being a student?
- – I think it depends on the study load. Here I think it is comfortable to combine work and studies. At my home university I had to study too much. I couldn’t afford to spend time with anything else, in order to keep up. But here the workload in not too much. I think it’s convenient and it’s also really expensive to live here. I really like that I can support myself with some money from the job.
- Where do you work?
- – I have two jobs. One is teacher assistant in parallel programming, and I just signed the contract with a second job. I will do a project with them, and I want to write my master theses with them.
How did you get in contact?
- – I had a business project course last semester, and I had to choose a company. They liked me and offered me a job!
Travelling and nature
In her spare time Valeria likes going shopping in Sweden with her friends, who have a car. The Swedish border is not far from Halden, and the locals enjoy weekend trips. There are numerous lakes and forests surrounding Halden, and Valeria likes going hiking when she has the time. She has also travelled quite a bit during her time in Norway. She has visited Tromsø, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger. And now she is hoping to visit the Lofoten islands, which is known for its beautiful landscapes.
- – I would love to stay in Norway. I hope that after I am done with my master theses, I will be offered a full-time job. I really love it here.