After IB - Alumni experiences

Students in IB graduation.

Tikkurilan lukio IB World school has been authorized in February 2001. Our graduates are studying or have studied at following universities: Aalto, Aberdeen, ANU, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Glasgow, Helsinki (Humanities, Law school, Med school, Sciences), Laurea, LSE, Maastricht, McGill, Metropolia, Nijmegen, Oldenburg, Oulu, Oxford, Pisa, RCA, Stanford, Sterling, Tampere, Tartu, Toronto, Turku, UWE, Åbo. If you are our alumni and your university is missing from the list, please let us know! 

Alumni experiences

The International Baccalaureate program at Tikkurila High School was an invaluable experience for me. I learned multiple beneficial skills such as effective learning methods, open-mindedness and the most important for me was time management. The program develops students into critical thinkers and it taught me strong academic and social skills. The IB program pushed me to do my best academically and it was difficult at times!

Petra Elg, International Relations and Politics in the EU / University of Maastricht

I will never regret the decision of completing my high school studies in English in the international and dynamic environment of the Tikkurila High School. The excellent professors and study facilities ensured that we were more than well prepared for the demanding IB final exams. The tight-knit community and great atmosphere at school helped 'survive the IB' and nowadays at university the fast pace does not scare me like it does some of my friends. The analytical and academic research skills learned in Tikkurila IB have also proved very useful at university.

Kati Vinnikainen, International Business / Aalto University

The rigorous requirements set by the IB programme emulate the often challenging nature of University. At Tikkurilan Lukio, I was taught six subjects in great detail and tested in various ways of assessment. I have found that the experiences I gained from IB have carried over to my current studies. I now appreciate the guidelines and deadlines that seemed harsh at the time. At University, I get to use the many skills I learnt due to the IB programme, which include essay/report writing, evaluation skills, and presentation skills. All these skills are very valuable once I entered University and have a significant impact on my studies.

Vipul Nijhawan, Business Administration & Finance / Australian National University

I cannot give enough credit to the IB programme as a whole and especially to Tikkurila IB and the teachers I had the pleasure of working with during my high-school years for putting me on the path I’m on today. Back then, I didn’t really have an idea about what I wanted to do in life career-wise. I knew I liked natural sciences, which is why I picked HL Chemistry and SL Physics as subjects. Through my studies, my interest only kept growing and eventually I knew I wanted to pursue a career in science. However, I feel like in terms of growing as a person, it was my other subjects that were most important for me. History, Finnish and English taught me more about how to think and not what to think. I hold great value in the things I learned from my teachers of these subjects.

Tomi Jokela, Medical school /Helsinki University

The impact of Tikkurila IB on my studies and career As a Finnish native speaker, learning to communicate properly in English is certainly one of the greatest skills I gained from the supportive environment of Tikkurila IB, both the academic language and everyday discourse. After the IB I have studied glass and art in competitive schools both in Europe and in the USA, and worked across the globe on my own projects, and I believe that without the IB experience I would not be in the position I am in today. The grit, the dedication towards a goal and academic skills as well as the courage of my convictions are all issues the program and my teachers provided me, and I have continued to develop.

I took Visual Arts as one of my subjects, which now, looking back almost a decade, was one of the turning points in moulding my future career path. Today, I work as an independent artist and filmmaker, and the open-mindedness, curiosity towards everything in our world, flexibility in terms of project realisation and positive relentlessness are qualities I feel my art teacher in the IB provided me. Funnily enough, I still use the Research Workbook as one of my everyday tools. It was indeed in the art classes I began to understand that I could find a meaningful career and life within the arts.

Riikka Haapasaari is an artist and a filmmaker