Sisu.

Almost two months have gone by. Friends are asking: “Hey, what’s up with that blog of yours? Are you posting anything these days?”. My answer usually comes straight, more concise and to the point than it used to be: “Nope.”

To my defense, the amount of workload as a new international Master’s Student in Finland didn’t give me much time to socialize, let alone write about it. But what I do hold myself accountable for is not TRYING to make the time to share my experiences in and with the Finnish educational system, as I have grown to understand it throughout the last 3 months of my life.

I still have the pictures, the ideas jotted down from every school visit as well as all the memories necessary to complete 5 or 6 blog posts, but time was not really on my side.

Or maybe that’s just the lame excuse of a woman who’s found it harder to cope with the darkness, exhaustion as well as weather and health moods…

If you had asked me last year this time how do I think living in Finland would be, I would have most probably told you it’s a ‘piece of cake’, “the easiest thing in the world”. I would have most definitely added that ‘people are overreacting’ or that ‘I’m used to heavy winters and ringing frost. It’s no big deal’. And while I do believe that some people may overreact or that heavy winters are not only a Finnish trait, I also believe that it’s probably better to not make statements until you’ve lived in a country for at least one whole season.

The same goes for me. I made assumptions thinking I have it all figured it out. Little did I know … After 3 months of intense ongoing process of assessment through written assignments, PowerPoint presentations and an intense focus on research (including statistics) – I can safely say that my physical body is quite tired. Not the same can be said about my spirits, though. November is gone and so is the feeling of psychological distress. I am now in a much better place. What I have never given up was the passion for what I am doing and the sense of purpose in knowing why I am here in the first place. Every Tuesday, the children at the Turun Normaalikoulu where I’m teaching Romanian, make me realize I must be doing something right, I must be following the good path in education, hopefully.

As I’m writing from one of UTU’s cafeterias, I am once again reminded of the beauty of not having everything figured out, but knowing you’re on the good direction. This is my idea about leading in education: if you have that fire in your soul, that light of hope that you can actually make a difference in the world, that you are fighting for the good causes and the right values, you are on the right track already. The rest of it, the by-passers and the inevitable rocks and cracks in the road are there to remind you not to lose appreciation for your goals and not to take any push-forward (when you feel like changing direction) for granted. Not to lose your Sisu.

To me, Finland itself was and is my push-forward. My “don’t let go” of the Dream. A dream that countries like Romania, for instance, can have true Leaders in education, that fight for equity, inclusion, a culture of trust and sharing as opposed to competition and undermining, openness to parent collaboration and feedback. And a sense that it’s never too late to learn.

Today, I thank the people who trusted me enough to accept me in this Masters’ Degree, the wonderful Finnish people that I’ve met along the way who’ve been with me through thick and thin,  my amazing classmates that teach me important values every day and, not least, Finland as a whole, for, well, everything. Today, I show you my immense gratitude (and thank you for last night’s Northern Light – it was my first ever) 🙂

Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivä! #suomi100