A bit about myself and my wrong perception about learning entrepreneurship

I’m a GLOBBA student originally from Vietnam. I chose to study business because I do believe through the business I can achieve the mission of my life – improving living conditions for children in terms of safety, education, and basic needs, especially children in my home country.

From self-help books, I soon realized my huge interest to become an entrepreneur somewhere after my first academic year. However, I still decided to have Supply Chain Management & Logistics to be my specialization since I was a bit interested in doing export and import between the EU and Asia. Also for the fact that I knew nothing about this field, so I thought it would be useful to learn and later on apply the knowledge to my future business. Back then I even had a misperception that entrepreneurship is not something I can learn from school. It should be something I learn by doing, or at least from other fellow entrepreneurs outside of school.

But I was wrong, totally wrong! Thanks to the courses (Growth for Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs Network & Arenas) I took for Entrepreneurship – my minor specialization – during Spring term 2019. I realized something that changed my mindset completely.

My impression of the Entrepreneurship courses

First, I did not feel bored in class whatsoever, instead, I was so excited about every homework, project, and topic that we conducted. I found myself wanting to learn more and understand deeper the concept and could not wait to try/ experience it in real life. Even some challenging tasks particularly about pitching used to be my weakness, thanks to the practice in class, now I’m a confident public speaker who can deliver my thoughts to people easily.

Secondly, I met like-minded people. I used to sit alone and only talked with my classmates when we had group work. But in those classes, I could talk with anybody, about lifestyle, business, sharing opinions on different matters without feeling awkward. I got excited when listening to other business ideas, and felt like the same thing happened to them. We enjoyed discussing business ideas together and trying to come up with solutions for any problems.

From the points above, I have decided to change my specialization into entrepreneurship even though I was so close to graduation. I just had a strong feeling that my thesis must be done in the field that I’m passionate about and there is so much more for me to learn and explore. I felt thankful and lucky that right now I seem to be on the right track.

Besides studying, I’ve been devoting my time and effort to build a non-profit organization – Entrepreneurs of Finland – with a mission to empower entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs-wanna-be with inspiration, knowledge, and networks needed to thrive in their career. My team and I do this because we truly believe in the power of the entrepreneurial mindset and our goal is to help more people no matter what professions to benefit from this lifestyle.

As a firm believer in the power of community who has a great interest in people, I also work voluntarily in VietES (Vietnamese Entrepreneurship Society in Finland) as a community builder. Seeing a lack of a place where people, especially our compatriots, can network and share meaningful insights, I came up with an idea for a biweekly event called Success Club. With the help of talented colleagues in our team, we have organized 11 events so far and connected 22 speakers with hundreds of participants.

Three things I appreciate the most in Haaga-Helia UAS

Now looking back, I can’t be more thankful for my journey studying here. There are so many things to be grateful for. However, in terms of core values, my wonderful experience was made up of three main factors: the teachers, the courses, and other activities.

Teachers

I think nobody would doubt the important role that the teachers play in the student’s study outcome and experience. My teachers in Haaga-Helia have been very good at making students feel supportive and comfortable. The fact that everyone is so nice and helpful, for me, is the key to an outstanding educational environment.

The courses

What I love the most is that our courses are well-structured and practical enough for me to see the reason why I should learn this knowledge and how I can apply it to real-life. Almost all the courses I attended have some teamwork, group discussion, presentation, and even small projects, which helps us a lot to improve our communication skills.

Other activities

Last but not least, as a student of Haaga-Helia, I’ve been provided with other interesting and helpful activities that I did not even think I liked until I tried. As a student with a huge interest in entrepreneurship, I feel like I have been in such a perfect place for me to grow. One of the best things we have is Haaga-Helia Startup School.  I can’t imagine how my life would be so different without the knowledge, experience, and contacts from there. Some other activities I have participated in and warmly recommend others are Cambridge Venture Camp, 10 Days 100 Challenges, Nordic Business Forum, Slush, events from XES Helsinki.

Full Name: Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha

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