Student, how are you? Well, right now I’m doing pretty good! The spring and sunshine have clearly cheered up my daily life, it’s surprising how much better I’m managing. It’s the last semester of this academic year and it’s almost all wrapped up; of course, I still have to push through the last exercises and exams. Wappu is just around the corner, and I just can’t wait for students in overalls to take over the street and campus scenes again. Anyway, wappu creates this feeling of togetherness!
Student, how are you? I’m fine. I guess. Well actually, I’m pretty tired. I’ve got a long winter and academic year behind me and should keep pushing for a while longer. The last semester’s courses tend to always feel rather rough; I just don’t have the energy anymore. It feels like everyone around me is so excited about the spring, and that wappu is coming. It feels like I should be super happy about it, but honestly, it worries me more than anything else. It feels like everyone else has friend groups with who to attend events, but I don’t know if I have one? Summer is also drawing near, and I’ve had no word from summer jobs yet. I’ve put so much time and effort into job applications, and I’ve even got a couple of interview invitations but in the end, their hiring decision never lands on me. If I don’t get a summer job, then I don’t know how I’ll live through the summer as my study grant months are dwindling and the last of my courses aren’t even held during the summer.
Student, how are you? The annual students’ mental health week is here with the theme “Student, how are you?”. The theme intends to bring forth students’ own voices and experiences. What current matters support or burden students’ mental health and well-being? I find the theme to be appropriate in a time when students’ income has weakened, finding employment and internships have become more challenging, and according to the Nuorisobarometri (only available in Finnish) young adults’ confidence in the future has generally decreased. The theme also encapsulates the understanding that the students’ situation, stress, and experiences are best understood by us, the students. In addition, we students are also a diverse group which means that how we are, can have various answers. My two fictional students’ experiences on approaching wappu and the summer, were an example of this. However, in between these examples, there is space for many different types of catching up with all the joys and sorrows involved in student life.
Student, how are you? When you are asking this question, are you truly ready to hear and listen to the answer? I’ve noticed that it is significantly easier to just ask than genuinely listen. As a student myself I am so fed-up reading comments on how “students should just get a job”, how “students are lazy and ungrateful for social security paid with tax money” or how “when I was a student we managed with far less”. As I said, we students know best what students’ current situation is.
Student, how are you? Thank you for asking, when writing this I’m – in a classic fashion – just fine. Personally, the sun peeking through my office’s blinds and the spring weather have cheered me up a lot. At the same time, I also have my own worries that weigh me down. Yet, I’m really looking forward to this year’s wappu in particular and I cannot wait for the masses of people who I get to see at the events!
-Heiska
Sources:
https://www.nyyti.fi/en/support-and-activities/students-mental-health-week/
https://tietoanuorista.fi/julkaisut/nuorisobarometri-2024/ (Only available in Finnish)