Meet Irene Chua, a current Master's degree student at the University of Turku and an UTUambassador 2022-2023!
"Hey! I’m Irene and I am currently studying a Master’s Degree Programme in Information and Communication Technology with the specialization track in Cyber Security. I’m from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where I studied my Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Cyber Security. I chose to study at the University of Turku because this Master’s Degree Programme has a broad, deep and strong theoretical framework with great opportunities to apply this knowledge into practice. Moreover, the University of Turku welcomes international students wholeheartedly and provides a safe environment to study!
Studying in Turku started a new chapter in my life. While Turku is definitely less busy than Amsterdam, I feel at ease living in the middle of nature and still get to enjoy attending events and gatherings in the city! Turku has many beautiful places to visit and is a vibrant city filled with various inter-nationalities which is great to expand your network and meet new friends!
I am grateful for the knowledge and experiences I have acquired so far during my educational journey. As an ambassador of the University of Turku I will do my best to build bridges between members of our community and show the amazing aspects of studying in Turku!"
LinkedIn: Irene Chua
Irene's study experience:
I like technology and I enjoy solving problems. It interested me that many people want to connect with everything and everyone at anytime, yet few people are concerned that it also means that everyone and everything can also connect with you anytime. I frequently read in news articles such as "embarrassing personal pictures leaked", “bank accounts hacked", or “company data stolen”. I decided I want to learn how to protect people from such malicious actors. Ever since my Bachelor's degree, my interest to detect, prevent, manage and mitigate Cyber security related events grew alongside with my educational journey. So I decided to continue my passion and pursue a Master's degree focusing on the Cyber security field!
So far, I have been enjoying this field since it feels like a game of chess. It is a journey with lifelong learning. The solutions for yesterday’s problems are quickly outdated which means you have to revise your options and come up with a better one!
All courses in my programme have been insightful in their own way. One exceptionally great educational trait of this Master's degree is that students get to apply their theoretical knowledge in practice. Subjects such as Firewall and IPS Technology and Cyber security governance really embraced this technique in my opinion. Having inspiring professors and lecturers also enhances my motivation to dive deep into topics which I believe is a great boost!
I believe that I will keep learning and growing throughout my IT career. Learning is a timeless treasure which I think one should cherish. I aim to solve problems in the Cyber security field and see myself in a job that integrates both managerial as well as technical aspects. Cyber security is a continuous developing field and involves many other fields like health care, finance and the education. This illustrates that there is plenty of room to gain new knowledge and improve my capabilities. I believe that this is exactly the beauty of Cyber security!