Alumna of the Year, Taru Tuukkanen: "My goal in sports and studies is excellence"

Taru Tuukkanen, a business administration graduate, has been selected as Laurea's Alumna of the Year 2024. Tuukkanen is a successful basketball player on the international playing fields, whose career continues in the ranks of the reigning Finnish champions Torpan Pojat. A positive attitude and a desire to excel have brought Taru success in her sporting career, and the same strengths have helped her both in her studies at Laurea and in her current career as a real estate agent.

The reasons for the selection of the Alumni of the Year include how "Taru did a great job of combining a professional basketball career, family life and studying at Laurea. Taru had a positive, courageous and open attitude to develop herself throughout her studies. Even though the working life pulled her along during her studies, she didn't give up and completed her degree."

- To be chosen as Alumna of the Year is a tremendous achievement. Laurea is a big institution and I have good memories of it, so this honour feels good, says Taru Tuukkanen.

From international basketball courts to real estate business

Having played basketball since the age of 10, Taru Tuukkanen headed to the United States in 1997 to study and play basketball after high school. She was the first Finn to be drafted into the women's basketball league WNBA. However, Tuukkanen continued her playing career in Europe, where she played in France, Spain, Italy and Finland. She has won two Finnish championships and has represented Finland in the national team since 1998.

Tuukkanen started her business management studies at Laurea in 2018 and graduated in 2023:

–  I had also studied business administration in the United States and wanted to update my degree, Tuukkanen says.
– At the beginning of my studies, I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do for a living. Through my internship, a door opened to the world of real estate brokerage and, as a competitive person, I was immediately very enthusiastic about sales.

Four years ago, Taru started an internship at Roof, a real estate agency. After her internship, Taru continued working and now works as a real estate agent selling apartments all over Uusimaa.

Sport and learning go together

Taru Tuukkanen has managed to play a long career at the top level without any major absences. At the same time, she recognises how important it is for an athlete to have a future career through studies and a degree, even after her sporting career has ended:

– A sports career can end in the worst case with a bad injury the very next day, Tuukkanen stresses.
– Sport and studies are also not mutually exclusive. Especially since many studies can be done online, it is often easy to fit studies into the everyday life of a professional athlete, alongside sport.

Basketball has been Tuukkanen's passion since the age of 10. A career in sport has taught her endless lessons and has also enabled her to achieve everything she has outside of sport.

– I've always been very ambitious and wanted to be the best player on the court - and I've always been willing to work hard for that, says Taru.
– The same principle applies outside of sport - also in my studies; I don't do anything half-heartedly, but always aim for a grade 5.

Get to know the past Laurea Alumni of the year award recipients