From teacher to IT student: Starting over at 30

This blog post is written by Ilia Kaishev, student in the Information Technology programme at Arcada.

This text is about how difficult it can be to make decisions as an adult. You might wonder if it’s too late to change careers, start over, and especially do so in a new country. 

Disclaimer: This is a description of my personal experience, and it’s always important to consider the differences in experiences, opportunities, and factors that influence our lives. I hope this post turns out to be fun, interesting, and helpful to someone. Enjoy reading.

Part 1: Cultural Differences

Hi! My name is Ilia! I’m almost 30 years old. And surprise, surprise, I’m a student again, and I’ve already finished my first year at Arcada studying IT (five years ago, I wouldn’t have believed I’d be writing this!). I have a degree in education; back in Russia, I was a social studies teacher. And look how far we’ve come from where I started.

I imagine some of you reading this might be wondering: 'So what’s the big deal? You’re only 30, you’re still young. You could move three more times, try out lots of different careers, find new hobbies, and so much more.' But I’m afraid I have to disappoint you a little: unfortunately, social pressure regarding age and achieving professional and personal success varies greatly across cultures. So, it turns out that by Finnish standards, I still have my whole life ahead of me, but by Russian standards, I’m already too late for everything.

In Russia, by the time you’re 25, you’re supposed to have finished university and found a job. By 30, you’re expected to have saved up for a mortgage, gotten married, and had a child. And if you don’t fit into this timeline, you can expect social pressure, awkward questions, and stories about how your mom’s friend’s son has achieved everything there is to achieve while you were watching Reels.

In Finland, it’s perfectly normal to study and change careers, to find your place in the world, and—on the face of it—to live by new rules and accept the way things are. But in reality, unfortunately, things are much more complicated, and it’s hard to shake the feeling that it’s too late to change anything and start over.

And I think we greatly underestimate how these factors affect our quality of life and the decisions we make as a result.

Part 2: How I enrolled at Arcada University of Applied Sciences

Before enrolling at Arcada, I started training to become a teacher’s assistant. I thought it was a great option since I had a degree in education and experience working with children. Plus, it was a great way to practice Finnish, but unfortunately, after a couple of months, I realised that these courses weren’t right for me and I was just wasting my time.

Of course, I didn't know what to do and wondered if I should start my career from scratch. Main admission rounds for universities and universities of applied sciences were still a long way off. Thank goodness for the power of the internet. I came across an ad on Instagram saying that Arcada was holding a round of additional application and that I could take their entrance exams. I thought, 'This is my chance'. I immediately liked that the IT program included data analytics, which I’d been thinking about all along, and I had a little experience working with data when I was in my master’s programme. I really wanted to keep learning more about it, so I applied for the entrance exams.

That’s when the real fun began–two weeks to remember all the math I’d long since forgotten! For two weeks, with breaks for lunch and sleep, I studied hard, all the while thinking, of course, that I knew nothing, wondering why I’d signed up for this, and convinced that I’d fail anyway.

Exam day arrived. I arrived on campus and immediately liked it a lot. The teachers who conducted the exam were super friendly and kind. I was already traumatised by the Russian education system, so naturally, that kindness and support won me over right away.

The exams went great, and I received an invitation to study here. And as you can see, here I am.

Part 3: A year later

A year has gone by since I started my studies. I’m really glad to be here; for the first time in a long while, I feel like I’m in the right place. I still feel like I’m running late, but that feeling gets less and less every day. The best thing any of us can do is try every opportunity that comes our way. There are no 100% correct decisions, but you won’t know until you try. And it doesn’t matter if you’re 20, 30, or 50. It’s never too late to start something new that interests you.