In January Teo Taponen, an alumni of the Faculty of Law, met Chancellor Kaarle Hämeri following winning the grand prize of the university's Helsinki Alumni community competition. The prize draw was organised among all new members of the free Helsinki Alumni community in the alumni recruitment campaign.
The meeting with the Chancellor was a whole alumni family affair, as Teo's guests included his wife and the godmother of his daughter who are both alumni from the Faculty of Law, and Teo's son who is currently a student and future alumni from the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Lifelong friends were made at the university
The meeting was thoroughly enjoyed by all and provided an opportunity for Teo and his guests to reflect on their time at the university. Following the meeting, we asked Teo to share some of his best memories from his time at the University of Helsinki.
"Naturally, I have many fond memories of my student days and many of them are related to the numerous parties I attended, sometimes at the expense of my studies." says Taponen.
In retrospect, however, the main benefit of the party was not the moment, but the friends whose company you can still enjoy today, where the memories are still part of your life, as it were. The best example of this is, of course, my wife, whom I met in law school, and with whom we have shared our lives and started a family." Taponen continues.
Studies and experiences at the university positively shaped Teo's life and career
In addition to making lifelong friends and professional connections, Teo's studies at the university also set him up for a successful career. After graduating from the Faculty of Law in 1998, Teo has had a successful career in international business law and has worked for several global companies including Canon, Nike, Nokia and Microsoft. He is currently the Teo is currently the Vice President of Licensing at InterDigital Inc, a global technology research and development company.
"As for my career, studying at the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki has, of course, had a very significant impact. First of all, I have gained a good foundation for the legal profession. Secondly, and even more importantly, during my career I have worked almost exclusively in international business law in a number of global companies and in all these positions I have noticed how thorough and good a degree I have obtained, and how a Finnish education can be used anywhere in the world."
Meeting the Chancellor was a unique experience
Currently there are over 58,000 members of the university's free Helsinki Alumni community, however there are thousands of alumni who don't know that the free community exists and haven't joined. In November, Teo joined the university's free Helsinki Alumni community during their recruitment campaign period. Everyone who joined the community for the first time was entered into a raffle to win various university prizes, including the grand prize of a meeting with the Chancellor.
"The meeting with the Chancellor was very nice and interesting. We admired the Chancellor's wonderful office and learned new things about aerosol physics, the University of Helsinki and studying there, including our own alma mater, the Faculty of Law. I think it was also a great experience for our son, who is currently studying economics at the Faculty of Political Science - not every student gets to meet the Chancellor for breakfast. All in all, a very pleasant experience." says Teo Taponen.
