Fearlessness: Finding the courage to face and push past your fears. Lately, I keep coming back to this theme of fearlessness. It’s come up in several conversations I’ve had over the past few months, and it’s got me thinking: How do we teach our children to be fearless? Is it Read more…
“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” ― Brené Brown Connections. I know I wrote a post on this already, but one of Read more…
Being the active person I am, I have spent some time these first 2 weeks in Joensuu exploring my options as far as sports and various activities to participate in. Being an avid hiker and kick boxer, I had a feeling those opportunities would be few and far between here Read more…
From the moment we arrived here in Joensuu, we have hit the ground running. Between orientation at the university (which began the day after our arrival), meeting the people we will be working with, and getting to know what clothing to wear/what to bring each day when you don’t have Read more…
After a week of being here in Joensuu, it was finally time to do what I have traveled 5,500 miles to do: see what life is like in a Finnish school. Koulu is the Finnish word for school, so you will see it in the names of schools around Finland. Read more…
When I first began reading about Finland, the people, and the culture, I read that Finns can be reserved and introverted, especially in the wintertime when everyone hibernates during the long, dark hours. I remember Maija, one of our Fulbright Distinguished Teachers from Finland that studied in the US this Read more…
24 hours. 9 months. 9 hours. 6 months. 5.5 hours. 5 minutes. 24 hours en route from San Diego, California to Joensuu, Finland. 9 months from the time I received my Fulbright award letter to departure. 9 hours time difference between Joensuu and my students back in Denver, CO. 6 months to explore Read more…