TBD
Sarah Haviland
Gap year with Rotary in Finland in 2006 at age 18
Years ago, fresh out of high school, I had the good fortune of being able to participate in a year-long youth exchange through the Rotary program based out of State College, PA. After providing my top five country choices (can you guess what they were? I’ll tell you at the end of my piece) and the Rotary folks did their thing, I was placed for a year in Turku, Finland.
I am certain that had I never been placed there through this exchange program, I’d live my whole life without ever going to Finland, and truly, what a shame that would be. I’d have missed out on so much (Sauna! Reindeer! Salmiakki!), and not be the person I am today.
During this year (2006-2007) I learned not only about Finland, the Finnish people, their culture, language, and traditions, but I was set on a path towards understanding and figuring out my own identity as a young person, both independently and within the context of my communities and the world. While technically I’d been living abroad for quite some time, having been born and spending the first four years of my life in Toronto, Canada before my family moved to California, spending significant time abroad as a young adult, was foundational to developing my worldview and the values that I bring into my personal and professional life to this day. I learned how curious people are. I experienced a different, more balanced way of life. I learned that rarely is there ever only one right way to do, feel, or experience something. I developed my independence and got used to spending time alone, in new contexts and situations way beyond my control. I learned to navigate and genuinely appreciate public transportation; near the end of my year I spent a day running all around Paris, France, in flip-flops (very comfortably, I might add! Oh, to be 18)!
Growing up as a mixed Black and white kid in the 90s and 2000s, I was used to being the only one that looked like me in a classroom or any room for that matter. That experience was further amplified in Finland, a country that certainly lacks racial and ethnic diversity. However, I don’t remember ever feeling unsafe in Finland. My host families (and extended families, friends, and classmates) were wonderful, loving, generous people who truly folded me into the fabric of their daily lives. I had an incredible degree of independence, while still being supported by a program and dedicated people around to ensure my care and wellbeing. Because I was not a tourist, not seen as coming to the country just to take and go, I was afforded the gift of genuine growth, safety, and integration. And it is because of this that, perhaps, my biggest takeaway from my time abroad was to say, “yes.” Would you like to try this food you’ve never had? Yes. How about a weekend trip to Latvia? Yes! Do you want to try a couple classes at the local college? Yes. Would you like to help out in my class at the elementary school? Yes! Would you please give a speech at the high school graduation? Kyllä. That’s “yes” in Finnish, but you probably figured that from context.
As I’ve lived a lot of life since my year in Finland, developing anxieties, learning more about myself and the world, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees, having children, entering and exiting relationships, experiencing a lot more blatant and covert racism and sexism, moves, travel, health issues, loves and loss, I have developed more nuance to the act of saying “yes.” We now know and talk a lot about the power of saying “no,” and I am here for it! I also know that I am someone that often needs a reminder of what beautiful, transformative, empowering things can happen when we say “yes,” and I have my year in Finland to remind me of this every day.
After my year in Finland I spent two years in Washington, DC, two years in Pittsburgh, PA, six years in central Texas, and the last eight years back in State College, PA. It’s been nearly 20 years since my year abroad, and, other than once again realizing I desperately need to make it a priority to plan a trip to Finland in the very near future, my time abroad made me better and braver in every aspect of my life, not only in the immediate time following that year, but to this day, and I’m certain, in my future, in yet unknown ways.
As promised, my five country choices were: Italy, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic
