Finding the "Hidden You" at Aalto

Have you ever felt like you are more than just one thing?

You may be studying electrical engineering, but you can't suppress the passion for music underneath; you may be a finance guy/girl, but deep down you love art; you may be a designer, but you have an entrepreneurial dream to fulfill.

When you first walk through the doors of the Undergraduate Centre or find your way to the Väre building, you likely have a label attached to your profile: Engineer. Designer. Business Kid. This is indicated by the program you were admitted to and the subject clubs/guilds you joined. But if you stay within the confines of your major at Aalto, you’re only seeing about 33% of the picture. Being a student here isn't just about mastering your syllabus; it’s about the friction that happens when different worlds collide. What I found at Aalto over the past five years is that this school leads you to more than a degree but helps you draw the map that leads to your hidden self, given that you have used the resources correctly.

The Resources

How do you actually find these unexplored parts of yourself? You have to step outside the lecture hall. Here are a few ways to "hack" your education:

• Finding the "Maker Space": This is the ultimate playground. Viima (Design Factory + Startup Sauna + Aalto Ventures Program), Aalto Studios, Workshops, and the numerous Guild Rooms are the ultimate playgrounds for you to meet people in different majors, find opportunities to work in multidisciplinary teams, and use professional equipment to realize your side quests. Take my own experience for example: I joined the Product Design Project (PDP) in 2023, and worked with my fellow designer and engineer friends to build a product solution for an elevator company. Through that experience, I got the first hand experience about product design, which led to my growing passion for designing ever since.
• Learning from your friends: What is so cool about Aalto is that you get the chance to meet with people doing completely different stuff. I'm a business student myself, focusing on supply chain and business analytics studies; one of my best friends is doing electrical engineering and has his own sustainability projects, while another friend of mine is an interior designer making sketches and cool prototypes. Through them, I often gain new perspectives on what is happening in their fields and get inspired to create my own little projects.
• Community Support: Whether it's the entrepreneurial energy of Aaltoes or the creative chaos of the specialized hobby clubs, our student culture is the heartbeat of the university. These associations are often the first place you’ll lead a team, manage a budget, or curate an exhibition. Other than that, we also have student-facing funding, such as the Sustainability Booster that could potentially give you financial support once you decide to act on your passion. It can be scary to connect all the dots and find all the connections once you have found your passion. But you can easily find a community at Aalto that could have your back.

Freedom to explore

The study structure at Aalto is particularly good for exploring. Your major is just your foundation, but your passion is the skyscraper you build on top of it. Aalto provides the tools, the mentors, and the cross-disciplinary courses to ensure that when you graduate, you aren’t just a "degree holder." You are someone who knows how to navigate the unexplored. The most interesting version of yourself is waiting somewhere between the workshops and studios of Otaniemi. Go find them.

You can chat with Yijuan and other Aalto Squad student ambassadors on the Unibuddy chat platform!