Tessa Garcia-Collart accepted Perry Drake’s invitation to lead the seminar at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences that he’s taught in the past, and she made the most of her time in Finland. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

While Tessa Garcia-Collart was in Finland, she made sure to participate in the cultural tradition of jumping into the freezing waters of the Baltic Sea in Helinski. But the assistant professor of marketing at the University of Missouri–St. Louis did so after completing the primary objective of her trip, which was leading an intensive two-day seminar on digital marketing at the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences.

Both experiences took her a bit out of her comfort zone – the ice-cold plunge more than the teaching in a new country – but both left her with a warm feeling about her adventure in Finland.

“There were about 50 students in the seminar, and they were so insightful,” Garcia-Collart said. “They brought a thoughtful energy to every session, and we had so much fun. Each day the students had an immersive project that they had to work on as a group, a project that would take them about three hours to finish. These were complex projects, but they’re graduate students, so they are able to roll up their sleeves and dive into the topic.”

UMSL and Seinäjoki University have had a long-standing partnership. In addition to a regular collaboration between UMSL’s International Business Institute and Seinäjoki University – for example, students from Finland joined students from Germany on UMSL’s campus last November for a program over Thanksgiving week – Perry Drake, the marketing department chair, has regularly traveled to Finland as a guest lecturer.

This year, he asked Garcia-Collart if she was interested in taking his place.

“It means a lot to me that he trusted me with this opportunity, and I’m genuinely appreciative of the confidence he’s placed in me,” she said. “And then on the other side, it was like, ‘Let’s see what the students and faculty think.’ Perry has a long-standing relationship with the institution, the faculty and directors, and they hold him in very high regard. So for me, this wasn’t only about delivering a strong course, it was also about earning their confidence and making a positive impression.”

For Drake, the choice to extend the invitation to Garcia-Collart was easy.

“Tessa is one of our strongest faculty members,” he said. “Her research focuses on consumer health and well-being and brand communications in digital media. She brings a passion and energy that really resonates with young students. I knew her enthusiasm and authenticity would connect perfectly with our partners and their students abroad.”

The two-day seminar was held Oct. 3-4 and open to both Finnish students on campus and international students who could Zoom into the seminar. The project on the first day was SEO-related; students had to use tools such as  SEMrush to analyze and compare the search engine optimization for different websites, then offer recommendations on how the sites could improve their SEO practices. On the second day, their task was to analyze the social media presence of a local restaurant and offer recommendations on how that could be improved.

Garcia-Collart prepared interactive lectures and had guest speakers – including a pre-recorded piece by Drake – but the group didn’t get to everything in the original plan.

“I actually had prepared a case study to do in class, but the conversations were just so in-depth,” Garcia-Collart said. “As a professor, I realized right away that this was going to be a highly interactive session. The students wanted to ask questions, share their opinions and really engage. Many of these master’s students are business owners themselves, experts in their own fields. They brought thoughtful questions, and whenever one of them asked something, another often had an insightful answer to contribute.”

Garcia-Collart was able to use her own research about consumer behavior to offer the students valuable insights to some of the topics brought up in the conversations.

“The feedback from Finland was wonderful,” Drake said. “Students emailed her afterward to thank her for the course and for the impact it had on them.”

Garcia-Collart’s other primary area of research is in consumer well-being, and she was well aware of Finland’s spot atop the rankings of the World Happiness Report. When she arrived in Helsinki after a four-hour train ride – “It’s as beautiful as you can imagine it; just a stunning, peaceful place surrounded by nature,” she said – Garcia-Collart made inroads on her research on that subject, too.

“Finland is ranked the No. 1 happiest place on earth, and it’s been indexed as the happiest place for eight consecutive years, according to the World Happiness Report, which offers a more eudaimonic and holistic index that includes community, exposure to nature, trust in government, access to health resources and many other indicators,” she said. “So for me, going to Finland was also a great opportunity to talk to anyone who wanted to share what makes them happy about living in Finland.”

Garcia-Collart, who is in the revisions stage of two manuscripts on her research into consumer happiness, also made connections she can pursue on a potential return trip, where she can meet with policymakers and learn what they are doing in Finland, and find ways to translate that to the United States and other parts of the world.

While there, she wasn’t about to miss the opportunity to partake in the chilly local tradition.

“I did the ice-cold plunge in the Baltic Sea,” she said. “Sauna is an essential part of Finnish culture, so plunging into the Baltic Sea in Helsinki and then heading straight into a sauna feels genuinely restorative. You go into the water in just a bathing suit while everyone on the shore is bundled up in gloves, scarves and coats. But the moment you come out of the sea, your body doesn’t seem to need anything; it feels completely fine. You can feel this amazing physical reaction, and then, once you move into the sauna, you start sweating and rid yourself of all the toxins.”

Having all of those opportunities in one trip was significant to Garcia-Collart.

“That speaks volumes, in my opinion, to the potential of these partnerships between UMSL and Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, and hopefully there can be more in the future across borders, because this opens up research opportunities and conversations that are already being had on our campus,” she said. “At UMSL, we are producing research that is very impactful, and we’re building on the partnerships that we currently have. I think that’s a very big highlight.”