My Academic Journey

Even though, I am an introvert, I miss my colleagues enormously. I like being around people, even if it requires more energy than staying by myself. But enough of the background information. Currently, I enjoy working from home. This is how I get science done from my home! Most of the things that work here, are likely to work later at the office. Try some of them out! :)  My alarm went off before 7AM. I do my daily Duolingo practice and get out of bed. Then I head to the yoga mat. Time for some morning yoga of 10-30min. Then it’s time for breakfast. The work day starts by taking over a part of the kitchen table. When I am ready, I set up my Pomodoro application on the phone and start by either planning the day or checking what I have planned. One the road to productivity (c)FotoJan My first productivity “secret”: Pomodoro. It is a technique helping with concentration and with remembering to take breaks. Brains are muscles just like other parts of the body. ...

1) Carrots  Lunch and dinner. Most of my colleagues eat carrots as a part of their lunch every single day. And why not? Carrots are healthy and here they are very tasty. I had to buy one. This pictures is originally  meant to my beloved one.   2) Pullover / Sweater.  That seems to be in Fashion (for practical reasons?) 3) Open windows To ensure better air quality. The other local Finns told me that the automatic "air conditioning" is not enough and that the inside air quality isn't necessarily that good. A Danish friend told me a minimum time to have a window open at my home. So, windows open.  4) Bikes The best way to get around. Usually, Danes lift a hand up when they stop and lift it to the side of the aimed direction when turning. Biking is almost like driving a car expect that cars are usually very careful with minding the bikers. There are lots of bike roads.  From Tivoli Friheden. 5) Lines If you were there first, you wil...

Here are some photos that I have taken during the walking breaks, which have become my new habit. Aarhus (and Denmark in general) is a fantastic place to live and work. The nature is just couple of steps away. I present some of them here in two parts. Let's start with campus and the lake near to the department of political science and CFA (Dansk Center for Forskningsanalyse)  where I am located. Part one: campus This is where I work! This is where I walk. Part two: other beauties outside city center. There are lots of different berries.. berries. more berries. Wonder if you can eat these? Countryside is very close by. Way to Aarhus! Way to work. (photos are from last month, couple of days back we got the first snow)

It seems that the Danes want to celebrate the summer when it is ending. It also looks like as important party as the pre-Christmas parties in Finland. For an introvert like me, it's been a tough week. We had a running team at the Aarhus Motion event on Thursday, Business School's Summer party on Friday and the Summer party of student housing in Vejby on Saturday. Thus, I am now happy to stay at home a prepare for the behavioral economics of education course. BSS Summer Party was totally different from the parties that my university or department arrange. First, the payment method: When bought the entrance, you also pay for food and drinks (partly illegal in Finland). The entrance costed approximately 20 € and included 30 coupons. With 6 coupons you could get a hamburger, with 2 a beer or class of wine and with 3 an ice cream. So, no one needed to buy more of them. Second, it mixed alumni, staff and students. Third, they had three very good bands! I am now a fan of ...

Benjamin Hardy wrote an article justifying a lifelong plan  (" If You’re Too Busy For These 5 Things: Your Life Is More Off-Course Than You Think "). My first impression was that this sounds like what a control freak would do. The I read on, there are some cool advises and the article even inspired one person to form a blog about presented ideas (in Finnish though). Yet, I agree with  Benjamin P. Hardy  on that you should have a some kind of a plan. Hardy emphases that you should know your why by quoting Michael Jr: Know Your Why . It is also a nice video. But the point that he made in the video was: when singer knew how he wanted him to sing, he sang so beautifully that the audience stood up. It was not his own "why" (e.g. purpose of singing) but this video is used to emphases why over what. Today, I found amazing TED talk about purpose. After listening to this, I felt relieved. "Purpose" is simply a feeling . Terri Trespicio tells a hint for financi...

 It's Friday! Time to relax soon. Have you tried different lengths of work days? The advantage of studying (and doctoral student  work partly) is that you can set your schedule freely. When I was studying for the bachelor degree, I discovered that studying each and every single day was the most efficient way to spend time. However, I had a bat habit of playing games that distracted. Once in awhile I gave them up for reading to exams - and then started again. Now, I have prohibited those kinds of games that run even when you're not playing. (So, I might spend time with games like Civilization -phone and computer- Carcassonne -phone and a board game- and little big planet - PS 3 and PS4). When doing the masters degree, I found out that I cannot continue like that very long. I had no  many hobbies, I mostly studied. Thus, I started to go to gym three times a week and to have one day off once in week or two. This increased the amount learned while focusing to study....

 Have you tried out yoga, body balance or something similar? In university of Vaasa, it is very convenient to train at the Vaasa Sports Club that is located on the campus. Last week I went to body balance at 7.30 am and my head was full of thoughts related to work. Those thoughts were in my head during day and they also come to my dreams. Today, I could concentrate on the movements much better. Firstly, the work trip is done and secondly I believe that balance had a role to play. When I was at work after the training, I was on fire. I finished a task after task. Yet, I admit, in the afternoon I was very tired.  Our office is divided into two parts, mine and Saara's. My desk is messy when I am in the middle of a process or project where as Saara likes it clean and organized. What I need more than physical organization is an organization in my mind. For that purpose training yoga or body balance is pure gold.  Our desks and a window.  The Window!...

It has been a while from my last update. Now, things are very different. The core courses are passed and I have started to write down the first article that I am conducting with my supervisor. I spend most of the autumn coding with STATA and hold the exercise sessions for microeconomics II. At first, the coding was very boring, I admit. Yet, it became more and more interesting as I learned more about it. Shortly, my graduation might actually happen some day and I enjoy my work.  As the most studies are done for now and I don't any more relate so much with the term "student" (although the tittle is doctoral student), the blog carries a name "My Academic Journey" to suit better for the research oriented degree of PhD. The old name "My kind of student life" was meant to describe how differently one might complete the bachelor and master degrees. I did a lot of choices in favor of academics over social happenings as my goal was to became a PhD student...

Polkaisimme Peten kanssa mikrotaloustieteen syventävän kurssin käyntiin. Päästäkseni vetämään harjoitusryhmää/harkkoja/laskareita/demoja, miten niitä nyt ikinä halutaankaan kutsua, olin tehnyt yli puolen vuoden mittaista lämmittelytyötä ohjaajaani kohtaan. Pete oli suhteellisen helppo saada puoltamaan hanketta, mutta kyllä Petellekin piti vähän todistella. Nyt olen jo miettinyt, miksi. :D Ensinnäkin, miksi se oli niin vaikeaa. Ja toisekseen, miksi, voi miksi olin niiin innokas. Olin aivan jännityksestä kankea harkkapäivänä enkä pystynyt tekemään muuta kuin miettimään, kuinka monta tuntia on enää harkkojen alkuun. Yli-innokas fiilikseni oli muuttunut pelkoon siitä, että selitän asioita liian vaikeasti, teen pahoja kirjoitusvirheitä taululle enkä osaa antaa tehtäville samanlaista extra-sisältöä kuin Pete olisi osannut.  Onnekseni, ryhmä oli aivan ihana. Kun olin vauhdissa, he uskalsivat kysyä ja kysyivät suomalaisten standardien mukaan paljon. Olin hyvin otettu tästä aktiivi...

En osannut kuvitellakaan kuinka haastavia jatko-opinnot voivat olla. Syksyllä vapaata oli niin vähän, että myös blogi on pölyttynyt. Oman mausteensa syksyyn toi Helsinki-Vaasa matkustaminen, joka vei keskimäärin 8 h/vko, koska kaikki Suomen yliopistot järjestävät kurssit yhteistyössä Helsingissä. Junassa työskentely on oma lukunsa: kuinka keskittyä täysin abstraktiin matemaattiseen malliin, jos samassa vaunussa on kiljuvia lapsosia tai puhelimeen huutavia matkustajia. Voit kuvitella, että se on aika vaikeaa - ja vähäistä vapaa aikaa ei haluaisi myöskään kuluttaa kyseisessä ympäristössä.  Olin aina kummastellut, miksi oppiaineemme opetushenkilökunta varoittelivat ja pelottelivat tohtoriopintojen vaikeudella, kun kandiopinnot olivat suhteellisen helppoja ja maisteritason kursseista sai hyviä numeroita käymällä luennolla ja hoitamalla hommansa hyvin. Vasta nyt joulukuussa olen lopullisesti ymmärtänyt, mistä oli kysymys. Kaikkien kurssien tuloksia ei ole tullut, mutta: en ole kosk...

“Excellence in life, excellence in academic” is the motto of Stanford. That is so true for the ones, who look for more than academics. As I have mentioned in my blog (in Finnish), I took a practical course of happiness. And it changed me in a good way. I learned to meditate and to prioritize also leisure. The lectures were a good help, yet I believe that the book (The Happiness Project) can give you almost the same, if you already know how to meditate. Here is also a blog from the author . First step: Notice. How often do you recognize the beautiful things around you? Such as:   All the colors of flowers, all the plants and all the tiny composites of architecture? They are there. Too many people multitask or suffer from hurry sickness. I was one of those, when I came here. But then, I stopped running. I had always overbooked my schedule with the school since highs school, as I wanted to learn everything. Although, it didn’t make me happier: I ended up st...