1. How was your work significant or meaningful to the world beyond school and your specific internship site?
My internship work was/is to make a video for the school I am working at (Schildt lukio) that will display the school's best qualities and functionality to English speakers. For Schildt, this will obviously help them when orienting new students, inviting exchange students, telling about the school at meetings, and so much more. To the world beyond school, my work will, hopefully, be influential to those hoping to know the secret behind Finnish education and better theirs.
2. How did your project go from an idea or inspiration to a final product?
Before I started my internship, my project really was just an idea. In California, I communicated with my mentor over email and we discussed how I was to be making a video for the school. That was it. But, on that pretense, I started designing the movie in my head, as I do. I thought about my camera work, brainstormed the interviews I needed to do, and came up with the idea of "A Day in the Life of a Student". Once arriving to Finland, I was able to speak to one of my mentors a little bit about the movie. We shared ideas and produced a backbone. The first day of my internship brought a meeting with my other mentor (school's guidance councellor) and the headmaster. There, we discussed my ideas and I learned some of theirs. Then, we simply started putting them into action. With their help, I gained the information and resources I needed to write a script/storyboard and collect footage. For two weeks, I worked on this. Now, I am putting it all together to create the final product.
3. What qualities or characteristics did you see in the people around you that you want to develop in yourself? Why?
What I saw, most of all, in Finnish schools was the care. This, I believe, is the secret to Finland's success in their education. At Schildt, I saw among the teachers, councellors, and students an immense amount of kindness, care, guidance, and understanding. The well-being of the community (and students) is put as a number one priority, even before test scores. This is because they know that, once well-being is established, everything else will follow suit. I want to develop this trait, not only in myself, but somehow in my (our) community and school. I believe, at High Tech High, we attempt this and am sort of successful but there is more to be done as I still see stress and agitation.
4. How did your view of life beyond high school change or develop during your time as an intern?
Life beyond high school is not as bad as I thought. I believed the world to be a brutal place where you have to struggle to keep afloat but, I realize, that not all the world is. First and foremost, life beyond high school depends on how you take it on but, second, it depends on where you are. Take things with confidence, with an open mind, with balance, and with happiness is what I have discovered will get me through okay. This is what I see in the Finnish people in regular life and in my workplace. People are generally stress free, confident, healthy, and happy.
5. How might internship influence the direction of your life?
Don't you mean how has internship influenced the direction of my life? The answer is, that is has in a HUGE way! Before internship, I was a wreck, and so were my plans for my future. I wanted to study art, I wanted to study writing, I wanted to study theatre, I wanted to study everything but I didn't know where to go with any of them. As I had been told countless of times, these are not practical ambitions. Where is the career? For a while, I didn't care but then I started to get scared. Education seemed like an interesting topic but perhaps boring. I went on internship curious about what I could gain. I went to Finland, and came back a changed person. Suddenly, I knew where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do. Being away somehow answered my questions. I want to and will study fine arts but I will also study English or writing. I will write, I will paint, and I will teach. The happy and inspiring English teacher with a hidden artist personality. That will be my future and I can thank Finland for it.
6. What new questions has your internship inspired you to ask about our world? What has it made you wonder about? What are you moved to go out and do or learn about on your own time?
My internship in Finland has changed my views on the way things are in a way that I could not have anticipated. I was moved in many ways, such as in education, politics, welfare, and human rights but mostly, of course, in education. Seeing how respected and prioritized education is in Finland was truly eye opening. To be a teacher is to be an educator and education is vital to our survival. Teachers and schools are highly respected. Not only this, but they do education right. Like I've already said, their top priority is guidance and care, not test scores but, with well-being, comes good results of all kinds. Seeing all this has really made me question how things are in America. Do we see education as something vital, as we should? Are schools being funded right? and Where are our priorities? I want to solve the problem with our education. I want to be a revolutionary educator. I think it's time we set aside America's pride as an independent country and open our eyes to what other countries are doing that might actually be better.
My internship work was/is to make a video for the school I am working at (Schildt lukio) that will display the school's best qualities and functionality to English speakers. For Schildt, this will obviously help them when orienting new students, inviting exchange students, telling about the school at meetings, and so much more. To the world beyond school, my work will, hopefully, be influential to those hoping to know the secret behind Finnish education and better theirs.
2. How did your project go from an idea or inspiration to a final product?
Before I started my internship, my project really was just an idea. In California, I communicated with my mentor over email and we discussed how I was to be making a video for the school. That was it. But, on that pretense, I started designing the movie in my head, as I do. I thought about my camera work, brainstormed the interviews I needed to do, and came up with the idea of "A Day in the Life of a Student". Once arriving to Finland, I was able to speak to one of my mentors a little bit about the movie. We shared ideas and produced a backbone. The first day of my internship brought a meeting with my other mentor (school's guidance councellor) and the headmaster. There, we discussed my ideas and I learned some of theirs. Then, we simply started putting them into action. With their help, I gained the information and resources I needed to write a script/storyboard and collect footage. For two weeks, I worked on this. Now, I am putting it all together to create the final product.
3. What qualities or characteristics did you see in the people around you that you want to develop in yourself? Why?
What I saw, most of all, in Finnish schools was the care. This, I believe, is the secret to Finland's success in their education. At Schildt, I saw among the teachers, councellors, and students an immense amount of kindness, care, guidance, and understanding. The well-being of the community (and students) is put as a number one priority, even before test scores. This is because they know that, once well-being is established, everything else will follow suit. I want to develop this trait, not only in myself, but somehow in my (our) community and school. I believe, at High Tech High, we attempt this and am sort of successful but there is more to be done as I still see stress and agitation.
4. How did your view of life beyond high school change or develop during your time as an intern?
Life beyond high school is not as bad as I thought. I believed the world to be a brutal place where you have to struggle to keep afloat but, I realize, that not all the world is. First and foremost, life beyond high school depends on how you take it on but, second, it depends on where you are. Take things with confidence, with an open mind, with balance, and with happiness is what I have discovered will get me through okay. This is what I see in the Finnish people in regular life and in my workplace. People are generally stress free, confident, healthy, and happy.
5. How might internship influence the direction of your life?
Don't you mean how has internship influenced the direction of my life? The answer is, that is has in a HUGE way! Before internship, I was a wreck, and so were my plans for my future. I wanted to study art, I wanted to study writing, I wanted to study theatre, I wanted to study everything but I didn't know where to go with any of them. As I had been told countless of times, these are not practical ambitions. Where is the career? For a while, I didn't care but then I started to get scared. Education seemed like an interesting topic but perhaps boring. I went on internship curious about what I could gain. I went to Finland, and came back a changed person. Suddenly, I knew where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do. Being away somehow answered my questions. I want to and will study fine arts but I will also study English or writing. I will write, I will paint, and I will teach. The happy and inspiring English teacher with a hidden artist personality. That will be my future and I can thank Finland for it.
6. What new questions has your internship inspired you to ask about our world? What has it made you wonder about? What are you moved to go out and do or learn about on your own time?
My internship in Finland has changed my views on the way things are in a way that I could not have anticipated. I was moved in many ways, such as in education, politics, welfare, and human rights but mostly, of course, in education. Seeing how respected and prioritized education is in Finland was truly eye opening. To be a teacher is to be an educator and education is vital to our survival. Teachers and schools are highly respected. Not only this, but they do education right. Like I've already said, their top priority is guidance and care, not test scores but, with well-being, comes good results of all kinds. Seeing all this has really made me question how things are in America. Do we see education as something vital, as we should? Are schools being funded right? and Where are our priorities? I want to solve the problem with our education. I want to be a revolutionary educator. I think it's time we set aside America's pride as an independent country and open our eyes to what other countries are doing that might actually be better.