Dis­cov­er­ing My Path in Oulu: From Acad­e­mia to Auro­ra

Three years ago, Fah­mi­da Sark­er arrived in Oulu, a city she had only known through aca­d­e­m­ic research and word-of-mouth in glob­al pub­lic health cir­cles. Drawn by the uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu’s strong rep­u­ta­tion in epi­demi­ol­o­gy and bio­med­ical data sci­ence, she packed her bags and took a leap into the unknown – into Finland’s qui­et, snow-cov­ered embrace.

“Before com­ing, I imag­ined Fin­land as a land of forests, lakes, and a soci­ety known for equi­ty and inno­va­tion. I had a vision of Oulu as peace­ful and com­mu­ni­ty-ori­ent­ed – a con­trast to the busy cities I had known before.

When I final­ly stepped into Oulu for the first time, that image came to life. Blan­ket­ed in pris­tine snow, the city radi­at­ed seren­i­ty. The peo­ple were reserved but polite, and the atmos­phere, though qui­et, felt wel­com­ing in its own soft-spo­ken way.

Life here is calm – that’s one of Oulu’s most pre­cious gifts. It’s not a city that over­whelms; instead, it offers space for reflec­tion, focus, and con­nec­tion.

The slow­er pace doesn’t mean less oppor­tu­ni­ty – quite the oppo­site. In Oulu, I’ve found the per­fect rhythm for aca­d­e­m­ic research, work-life bal­ance, and per­son­al growth.

“Oulu Feels Unique“

What con­tin­ues to sur­prise me the most is the dra­mat­ic shift between sea­sons in here. The long, sun­lit days of sum­mer feel almost end­less, while the win­ters offer deep dark­ness that wraps the city in a dif­fer­ent kind of beau­ty.

Adapt­ing wasn’t easy at first, but Oulu taught me how to find light in both the lit­er­al and metaphor­i­cal dark – through com­mu­ni­ty cel­e­bra­tions, win­ter sports, and the com­fort of cozy cafes.

Com­pared to oth­er cities I’ve lived in before, Oulu feels unique. It strikes a del­i­cate bal­ance between mod­ern ameni­ties and the tran­quil­li­ty of nature. This close­ness to nature has not only enriched my phys­i­cal well-being but has also pro­vid­ed men­tal clar­i­ty and peace.

Sum­mers here are par­tic­u­lar­ly mag­i­cal, berry pick­ing, for­ag­ing mush­rooms, hik­ing in the woods, or dri­ving along qui­et coun­try roads. These moments have recon­nect­ed me with the earth in a way I hadn’t known before. Among my favourite places in Oulu are the serene Hupisaaret islands, Hailu­o­to and the less­er-known Koitelinkos­ki.

They’re places where time seems to slow down. Whether I’m walk­ing alone in reflec­tion or shar­ing the space with friends, I always leave feel­ing lighter.

My most cher­ished mem­o­ry? The night I first saw the north­ern lights danc­ing across the sky. It was oth­er­world­ly. That, and the sur­re­al expe­ri­ence of the mid­night sun—where sum­mer nights stretch into gold­en end­less­ness, fill­ing me with a sense of won­der and pos­si­bil­i­ty.

Nav­i­gat­ing Oulu is easy, thanks to its effi­cient pub­lic trans­port and well-planned infra­struc­ture. The city is just the right size – big enough to find every­thing you need, but small enough to feel con­nect­ed.

Cycling is pop­u­lar here, even in win­ter, and trav­el­ing across Fin­land is a breeze with the train and bus net­works.

Lan­guage has been one of the more chal­leng­ing aspects of my jour­ney.

Finnish, with its unique struc­ture and unfa­mil­iar sounds, can be intim­i­dat­ing. But the city offers great lan­guage sup­port, and most peo­ple are kind and patient when you try to speak – even a lit­tle.

Work­ing in acad­e­mia allows me to func­tion most­ly in Eng­lish, but I’ve made it a point to learn Finnish to bet­ter engage with the com­mu­ni­ty and broad­en future oppor­tu­ni­ties.

“Calm Rhythms“

Oulu’s com­mu­ni­ty is one of under­stat­ed warmth. Peo­ple val­ue pri­va­cy and per­son­al space, but there’s also a qui­et sol­i­dar­i­ty that makes you feel seen, even if no words are spo­ken.

With­in the uni­ver­si­ty, the aca­d­e­m­ic envi­ron­ment is high­ly col­lab­o­ra­tive. I’ve been for­tu­nate to work along­side researchers who inspire me and chal­lenge me to grow.

One of the most trans­for­ma­tive parts of my expe­ri­ence here has been the oppor­tu­ni­ties I’ve received oppor­tu­ni­ties that I like­ly wouldn’t have found else­where.

My work in life-course epi­demi­ol­o­gy has flour­ished thanks to the university’s resources and research net­works.

As part of the inter­na­tion­al house Oulu ambas­sador pro­gram, I’ve also shared my sto­ry, built con­nec­tions with oth­ers from diverse back­grounds, and dis­cov­ered extracur­ric­u­lar paths that have deeply enriched my per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al life.

Main­tain­ing a work-life bal­ance here isn’t just encour­aged – it’s embed­ded in the cul­ture. My dai­ly rou­tine includes research, col­lab­o­ra­tion, and moments of pause to enjoy Oulu’s calm rhythms.

Whether that’s a walk through the for­est or time spent jour­nal­ing at a river­side café, these small prac­tices ground me.

If you’re con­sid­er­ing mov­ing to Oulu, I’d say: come with an open heart. Embrace the nat­ur­al world, try your hand at Finnish, even if imper­fect­ly, and give your­self per­mis­sion to slow down.

Oulu isn’t a place that shouts—it’s a city that qui­et­ly sup­ports you to grow. And I’m grate­ful every day that I lis­tened to my heart’s deci­sion to be here.“

Text and pic­tures: Fah­mi­da Sark­er