Hi!
I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. I've lived here and been in school for three weeks already. I thought today I'd write a bit more about school and how I've been liking it. This is probably going to be a lot of text but please bear with me.
I'm just gonna start from the beginning. I was still pretty lost at what I wanted to do with my life during my senior year of high school. It felt like everyone else had at least some kind of plan and I ended up applying to schools I wasn't really even interested in but they were much more higher education than the schools where you study to be a sign language instructor. Maybe I felt like I didn't want to disappoint anyone who had high hopes for me, like my parents. Do I even need to mention that I didn't end up getting in? Anyway, I had an amazing gap year and I got to make few of my biggest dreams to come true so I don't really regret anything.
We don't have books but this is how many pieces of paper we've got in just three weeks...
When it was time to apply to schools again, I decided to apply without thinking about anyone else but myself. It was my future after all. I remember getting an invitation to an entrance exam for the school I go to right now and I got so happy. I left the exam feeling pretty confident but really nervous. The day I got the results, I actually cried. I really felt like this was something I wanted to do.
Now that I've been in school for few weeks, I couldn't be happier about my decision. I really feel like this might be what I was meant to do. I absolutely love sign language and everything we study is at least somewhat interesting. I also like the fact that I never end up thinking "will I ever even need this in my life?" during classes. And most of all, I actually like going to school. Sure, it still sucks to wake up early in the morning but studying something that I'm interested in is so motivating.
One thing I've been so so so happy with and what motivates me even more to go to school is my class and just people in my school. The second day of school we met all the older sign language instructor students and they were so welcoming. Also my class is just absolutely amazing. I have never got along with everyone so well in my class. Sure, I don't really talk with every single one of them on daily basis but we do a lot of group projects and I used to hate them especially if we didn't get to pick our own groups but I have nothing against them now. They were especially nice during first weeks because it was a good way to learn everyone's names.
I decided to start this school year with a new attitude and I'm actually proud of myself for doing so. I've always been the quiet and shy one in class. I absolutely hated presentations, group projects and asking questions in class. Now I don't even get nervous about presentations, I enjoy group projects even with people I don't talk with all the time and I'm somewhat active in classes. I think big part of that is because I actually feel comfortable in the class and I'm surrounded by amazing people.
I'm currently taking 7 classes and more start every week. We take everything from Finnish sign language to ergonomics, child's speech development and professional knowledge. Right now we're concentrating on child and youth studies but soon we're also starting adult and elder studies. Our first on-the-job learning is after our fall break already.
Well that ended up being longer than it was supposed to be. Sorry! I just feel like maybe I can look back on this in couple of years when I'm graduating and see how I was feeling and how that has maybe changed.
See you soon!
~Susanna
