My passionate and unforgettable teachers

I was born in Helsinki, but life has led me to live in places as diverse as Dar es Salaam, New York, New Haven, Sydney, Lohja and now Ho Chi Minh City. The daughter of an Australian mother and a Finnish father who met in Lesotho, I have been privileged as a birthright to learn two languages and travel the world.

When I look back on my school years, it’s the teachers I remember the most. In a Helsinki primary school, it was Leena Andersen, who taught our lively class for six years. She imparted her love of music and language.

At UNIS in New York, it was our Irish-American history and anthropology teacher, Tom Wilson, who taught and worked on his own PhD at the same time. He was passionate about his subject and it inspired me to follow my academic passions rather than follow a more materialistic route.

At Yale, I best remember a journalism seminar where Fred Strebeigh taught us that every story should have ‘snaps’ and explained that he spent a long time setting these snaps up. It opened my eyes to the craft of nonfiction writing; how to be both truthful and creative at the same time. That fall, his long article on a feminist lawyer was getting a lot of attention, and I vividly remember him telling us about all the work and politics that went into getting it published by The New York Times.

Getting my master’s degree at Helsinki University was a different experience. My goals were clearer, so that made it easier to work and study full-time. Teija Tiilikainen’s lectures on the EU and Jani Johanson’s thesis seminar on social capital helped me see organisations in a new light: the strength that lies in trust and social networks.

For almost 20 years, I worked in Helsinki at The English School, first as a teacher and then as an administrator. The English School is a special place with a unique history. Founded in 1945 by a group of American Sisters from Missouri, it is a bilingual school where where children are eager to learn, parents care about bilingual education and colleagues do their best to foster growth into good human beings.

Now new challenges await. It is a privilege to be involved in such an ambitious project as the Vietnam-Finland International School (VFIS). We have a beautiful school and, what’s more, parents, teachers and administrators committed to excellence. When two countries join to share their vision for better education, only good things can ensue.

Sometimes I hear that being Number #1 is the most important goal one can have. In Finland, however, we start with the child. What is best for the child? What must we as a society do to make sure every child grows up to be a healthy and happy human being and a responsible member of the community? Through education, we want to empower the child to find his or her strengths and talents. Success will follow. A successful person can be so many things. It is the job of us teachers to help our students to discover their destiny. In this wide world, nothing is impossible and here at VFIS we want our students to learn that.

I think every adult has at least one teacher who they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. I hope our students find one here at The Vietnam-Finland International School.

Mrs. Seija Nyholm - Principal of Vietnam-Finland International School