It is a strange feeling to know that finally the effort of years is paying-off and your studies are officially over; to me, this means no more exams, studying, or homework… ever. As good as feeling as this is, the feeling of melancholy is inevitable. I studied the larger part of my degree at Design Factory and Startup Sauna, therefore celebrating my graduation at the neighbor’s was suitable; While I never spent nearly as much time at Urban Mill as I did the others, they are all somehow an alternative family within Otaniemi.

The party started a few days earlier when we started planning the event; we were expecting close to 70 people, 30 of which would join a family/adult dinner of which around 15 would join 40 friends at a later dance party. In the end, this was quite accurate, and we peaked at around an estimated 65 guests. The dinner party included Mexican food mixed with side-dishes, salads, appetizers, and some bubbly-wine which was prepared beforehand and served to the guests after a small toast from a few brave ones. The dance party focused more on music, lights, and a good atmosphere.

Among the guests were close family members, distant relatives, Mexican relatives, friends from my degree, from other degrees, from other schools, and from random origins. This mixture worked amazingly as we saw people from different origins mingling with each other. The food was widely appreciated and the dancefloor had people dancing Latin music, oldies, and house. It is necessary to mention that this party would not have been as big a success as it was without the help of Aalto Takeout who gladly lent us a set of party lights and a massive set of stereo speakers and subwoofer which gave us that punch we needed.

We had the possibility to reorganize the space as we wanted but we chose to keep most things as they were. The way the Urban Mill is distributed allows us to have many different little spaces for people to sit at which somehow give the feeling of a lounge bar with a somewhat industrial touch to it. The dance floor was set on the stage, lights shining from the floors above, and a large cloakroom set at the entrance, perfectly replicating a dance club.

Text by Rodrigo Prieto Padilla, who was celebrating his graduation. Photos by Reino Laukkanen.

The use of the facilities at student-friendly price was offered by Urban Mill and TEK’s Uusimaa Regional Office, which jointly develop and pilot new types of community space services in the Otaniemi area.

Read below Rodrigo’s 6 points for foreign students and graduates to get a job in Finland: Lue loppuun →