Six Years Later I'm Heading Back to Finland

Wow, it's been six years since my last post. My exchange student adventure ended shortly after that post (eight weeks if you were paying attention) and I haven't been a high school exchange student in Finland since. Let's get you up to speed on my life:

2012- Return from Finland. Begin school at Hamline University.

2013- Started taking Finnish classes at the University of Minnesota. Worked the summer at Salolampi, a Finnish Language Camp in Bemidji, Minnesota.

2014- Interned for the summer at the Halonen Museum Foundation in Lapinlahti, Finland.

2015 Spent spring semester at the American University in Bulgaria for my university study abroad. Returned to do summer research in Economics on Pyramid Schemes.

2016- Graduated and earned my B.A. in Economics and Philosophy. Worked odd jobs in preparation for my year in Malaysia.

2017-Taught English at SMK Seri Berang in Kuala Berang, Malaysia.

2018- Work at Hamline University as the Coordinator of Civic Engagement and the Hamline to Hamline Collaboration

So why am I reviving it now? Why not just leave it in the depths of the internet where it surely belongs?

I'm going back to Finland!

Starting in September I will begin a two years Masters in Economics at Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland. I'm incredibly excited about this opportunity to further my studies and return to a country that means so much to me. I'll be living in Helsinki for two years, and maybe longer if I have my way.

Instead of starting a new blog to capture my adventures, this seems like a perfect time to revive my old one and reconnect with my original love of Finland. I'm reviving this blog as a way to face my fears. I really want to improve as a writer, but I hate the feeling of others reading my thoughts without any way to control the way they're interpreted. At the same time, I love reading the blogs that so many of my friends write. If they're brave enough to do it, I am going to give blogging another try as well. If you go back and read my past posts, keep in mind that I was 18 at the time. I've changed a lot in the last six years.

Last order of business: the name of my blog. This blog will no longer be solely about Finland, and thus I feel like "From Minnesota to Finland" is a little limiting and unidirectional. Please comment below with your suggestions of a new blog name.

Nähdään!