Some of the major take-aways (reminders, really) from this extraordinary trip:
n This trip helped me to remember how important it is for students, faculty, and administration
to have input and investment in the institution.
n Any and all spaces, schedules, curricula, and opportunities must always keep the student as
the primary beneficiary. Their health and happiness are primary goals.
n Recreational time and activity are key to everyone's health.
n Education should be an instrument to balance out social inequality.
n Teaching kindness, respect, communication, and collaboration benefit an entire country.
n In 2018 and 2019, Finland was ranked the happiest country in the UN's annual World
Happiness Report, a survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by
how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. This honor, coupled with winning the
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) multiple times over the last decade,
is the ultimate proof that academic success and happy, balanced children can go hand
in hand. n