The finals are over, and I’m pretty sure you already miss the period of working hard, reading tons of articles, and conducting researches from 9 in the morning until midnight. You did your best, at least let’s hope so, and now you accidentally have a lot of free time, and two weeks of no classes or any other university obligations. You might be asking yourself, what you can do now. Of course, you can just jump into your cozy bed, with a book or a Netflix subscription, a cup of hot tea or cacao, with your alarm turned off. However, according to my experience, vacations are not a good time for sleep. Let me suggest you five other things to do during the next two weeks.
1.Apply now!
In case you are not a student of Tartu University yet, or you are finishing your Bachelor’s or maybe even Master’s, this is the perfect time to start gathering the documents for application. Our uni made it so simple: just go to DreamApply system, create an account and read carefully what you have to prepare. If you haven’t decided yet, have a look at all the opportunities you have – again, at DreamApply.
2.Train your brain
If you are like me, looking forward to your graduation this summer, winter vacations is a good time to get tuned for your thesis. You might not start writing your thesis straight away, but you can use vacations in order to get inspired. Not only read scientific books on your topic but pick up a fiction book related to your field, a movie or even a series. That would be a perfect combination of benefit and pleasure.
3.Start your career
Again, if you are about to graduate as I am, you can use your vacations to search for your (dream) job. It’s not an easy task, especially if English is not the company’s working language. However, try your luck in any case. Especially helpful might be a website created for foreigners who are searching for a job – Work in Estonia. A friendly interface and filters’ system will guide you through the process. Haven’t find anything yet? You can subscribe to the latest news, and who knows, maybe one day you’ll receive an invitation for your dream job via email.
4.Travel Cheaper
Whatever your level of studies is, traveling is always a good option to have a good time and learn new things. Yes, you are a student, but there are so many opportunities to reduce your costs. First of all, go to the websites of bus companies and low-costers and check the prices – they always have some special offers. Didn’t you like anything? Again – just subscribe to the newsletters to get the latest offers. The problem with accommodation can be easily solved: either just call your friends and ask if you can visit them (that’s how last year got to travel around Sweden), or try couchsurfing.
5.Enjoy heartfelt talks
Meeting your friends or going to visit your family is one of the best ways to use your precious spare time. Usually, we are so busy that we can barely ask how the things are going. When you are on vacations, use your free time in the evening to relax, to meet your nearest and dearest, and get engaged into some activities, let it be movie watching, ice-skating, pub-crawling – you name it.
On behalf of International Student Ambassadors, we wish you nice and fruitful vacations. Personally, I wish you to appreciate your free time and use it wisely.
See you next semester!
Katerina Bogdanova
MA in Democracy and Governance
