In Finland high school lasts only for three years. That's because the junior high lasts for three years, too. Anyway, this year is (finally) my senior year. The senior year is very special, including the final exams in September and in March.
The highlight of the senior year is this one week in February. It was three weeks ago, 13-18 February. The 8th of February was my last actual school day.
During the week there are different activities for the seniors. There are about 260 seniors in my school. A Finnish word for a senior is abi. It comes from the German word Abitur which means the final exams.
So, back to the week. Wednesday we had a theme party for the seniors. Every year the second-graders host a theme party for seniors. This year the theme was Olympics. I was a tennis player even though I don't even know how to play tennis. It was fun!!
The seniors make a play in which they play and mock the teachers. I saw that play Thursday morning. After the play, which is called abishow, we had a parade. It's kind of similar to the American homecoming parade: students dress up and they throw candy to people who come to watch the parade. The seniors stand on a truck and all the high schools of the city drive their trucks up and down the main street. There are approximately 10 high schools in Tampere. There are huge signs on the trucks which usually criticize politics.
I dressed up an old and mean granny with my friends.
Another traditional senior activity is a cruise to Tallinn or Stockholm. The cruise is just for seniors and it lasts for a day. There's a delicious buffet and usually an artist who has a concert there.
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| This is a reference to Brexit |
Next week will be my last week of studying, yay!! My studying break officially started three weeks ago. Next week I will still study about 5-6 hours per day independently for my final exams. The final exam, officially the matriculation examination, is a 6-hour long test, in which your knowledge of the subject is tested. It covers everything you have learned in high school. Usually you have to write essays in order to answer the questions. A student can choose the subjects which s/he wishes to be tested in. Only Finnish is mandatory and everyone takes the English test. I’ll be tested in those two, but also in Advanced level math, chemistry, biology and Swedish. Each test has their own testing day so I have to go to take the tests in six parts (means 36 hours of sitting and writing…)
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| This is what our kitchen table looks like when I'm studying :D |
Here are a couple of examples of the questions:
Biology:
How can mutations affect the phenotype and fitness of a species?
History:
The picture below is from the 1920s. The era is also called the “roaring twenties”.
Discuss what kind of Western phenomena are for this nickname and how can this nickname also be critisized?
Finnish:
The passage begins John Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row. In what ways does the narrator describe the setting in the passage? (I have not attached the passage here)
The final exams will be held in March. After that, most of the seniors don't have school anymore and they get a job. My situation is different because I want to apply for the University of Medicine. I have to take an entrance exam which is one of the hardest ones in Finland. Only 10% of the applicants get in. I'm going to a course that prepares me for the entrance test. On the course I will be studying about 6 hours per day chemistry, physics and biology. I have already studied them in high school so it’s not anything new but I just have to remember every single detail of the material. That ain't easy.
The graduation ceremony will be held in early June. I will tell more about it later.
Love,
Anette
