School in Finland

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Many people have been asking me how studying at university in Finland is different from the colleges in the US, or how it was different than French school when I was a child. Well, it is different. And I have to say that I really do like it. Of course I'm challenged, but I'm not an emotional stress case at all times at least. And I am incredibly thankful for this experience as it is one of the best educations I've received in my life. Here's why:

This was weird for me at first. Teachers have you call them by their first name. They never tell you that you're wrong. And they never shame you or put you down. Where's the shame that we had in French school when we got a bad grade? Where's the competition for GPAs like in the US? You mean we all have valuable opinions? And that the teacher and I are equal? Even though they're way smarter than me? I was shocked at first, but I really do enjoy it now. It doesn't add that extra stress from the need to be better than your neighbor. Instead you do as well as you can and want. It is so relieving. And because of this, the teachers are actually helpful and approachable!

Did you ever have 8 a.m. classes in college, or 8 p.m. classes? Those were terrible! Luckily the university doesn't offer those classes. Most start around 10 in the morning, rarely do they start at 8 or 9. And the latest they go seems to be six at night. So while there's plenty of work to be done outside of class, the hours spent in class are much better than in the US. You're actually awake and paying attention rather than struggling. Thank you Finland for understanding that we're people and have lives!

At all the universities that I applied to, they encouraged us to try new courses and become well rounded. In my program we are required to take courses outside our comfort zone. And kids in school are taught multiple languages. While you still get to focus on your subject area, they want you to pursue courses in areas relating to your subject to give you a better understanding. And this is incredibly useful once you graduate as you're not entirely focused on one subject.

In elementary school, kids barely get homework. In university, there isn’t homework other than keeping up with the reading and writing multiple essays. If courses do make you write a reflection every week, it is usually the only thing you will turn in. Now don't get me wrong, there's a lot of work to be done. Hours of it if you do it right. But the point is that the work has meaning. It is not homework for the sake of homework. It is all preparing you for the final essay or class discussions. And I really do appreciate that at least. As I'm drowning it reading, at least it's getting me somewhere!

That's right, there's no unit cap. You can take as many classes as you want. Sure sometimes a very popular class will fill up, but it doesn't happen within ten minutes like in California. Instead as long as you register within a couple of days you generally get the class. And if there's low enrollment they usually still keep the class. This year I took a course and there were only three of us! This makes class registration so much less stressful. The hardest part is sorting through all the options and picking the ones that you like the best and limiting yourself. Or is that just the nerd in me that struggles with that?