Student Roman Suran wanted to give back and became an international tutor

Who are you and what do you study?

My name is Roman and I was originally studying as an exchange student at Aalto University last academic year. Despite the pandemic and remote teaching, I enjoyed the studies and the environment here, so I decided to apply and continue at Aalto university. 

I am studying for my master’s at Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering. Now, I am writing my master’s thesis in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation. One of my extracurricular activities is tutoring SIK (Guild of Electrical Engineering)exchange students. 

Why did you become a tutor?

Being a part of the Aalto and AYY (Aalto University Student Union) community is inspirational to me in terms of how the whole society should behave towards each other. The reason, why I applied for tutoring, was that I exactly understand the feeling of new international students coming to a new country. They may deal with many challenging situations at the beginning of exchange studies. The role of a tutor is to help them out and make the adaptation process less stressful and more enjoyable. 

What were your tasks as a tutor?

The role of a tutor includes, for example, picking up apartment keys, keeping the group updated about the school events, answering the students' questions, and giving them some nice tips about how they can spend their free time in Finland.  

We did many activities together with my tutor group, such as overall fitting event, beer-pong, group lunch, croquet, orientation party, and hiking in Nuuksio national park.

What is the most important quality of a tutor?

The most important quality of a tutor is to motivate people by doing good-spirited actions all the time, showing respect and being humble, so you will create an environment where all students feel comfortable, and they could understand that everyone can benefit from a functional group.

What were the benefits of becoming a tutor?

I have learned how to organise a multicultural group and get along with different types of people. Thanks to this tutoring, I also made friends from all around the world and have made good memories.

It is a great opportunity to meet students with different backgrounds and personalities. It is essential to be in a group where everyone’s decision takes place to achieve certain common goals rather than to compete as an individual. This might be also useful in one’s professional career.

What kind of tutor did you have when you started at Aalto?

They were supportive and always tried to find a solution to every problem. In the very first stages of tutoring, I took inspiration from my own tutors in all possible aspects, such as starting an introduction and first interaction with the group through chat, guiding them before coming to Finland, offering help, and encouraging students to ask questions multiple times.

Aalto community and Finnish honesty and humility were actually the reasons, which affected finding my place in Finland. Indeed, my tutor group was one important piece of this puzzle.

The application time to become a tutor at the School of Electrical Engineering for autumn 2022 is open now!

Application form to become a tutor for Guild of Electrical Engineering SIK here. Application time is open until 28^th February 2022.

Application form to become a tutor for the Guild of Automation and Systems Technology AS here. Application time is open until 20^th February 2022.