Feelings after the matriculation exams

It's been already almost two weeks since the matriculation examinations were finally over, but somehow I at least don't feel so relaxed yet. Maybe it's the admission exams ahead and the summerjob that give me a headache... However, I feel relieved - and unfortunately disappointed,too. I'm relieved, because finally I have some time for myself. I'm also disappointed, because it feels I didn't do even close as well as I could have done. Luckily mother language went really well, and so it compensates for the other subjects that didn't go so well.

Besides my own feelings, I also wanted to know how two of my friends felt after the matriculation examinations.

Veera, 3a

- Well, I did reach my goals, but I still feel stressed. But mostly I just feel relieved, and I'm most satisfied  with English. And I'm so glad I can finally watch tv-series without feeling guilty about not doing something mandatory!

Julia, 3b

- It disappointed me the most that I've worked so hard through my entire high school time, but now when I should've been most efficient I just felt so exhausted, and so it didn't go as well as I'd hoped in every way. I should've slowed down earlier and saved resources mostly for the matriculation examinations. In university this baccalaureate affects quite much besides the entrance examination, and I had wrong kind of strategy for that and that's a shame - and I've been heading for university after all. Because of the matriculations my motivation is lower now , and if it had gone at least a little better I would've had more self-confidence for the entrance exams.

As we can read, the feeling of relief isn't always the only one after the matriculations, expecially when the entrance exams are still ahead. Luckily summer is almost here, and so probably the sun will help us all to survive.

Even though it's been tough few months, we're still able to find joy, like in this cruise right after our school leaving party on Valentine's day.

Written by Janette 3B

Future plans

Matriculation examinations are over, but for most third year students admission exams are still ahead. However, not everyone has very clear plans even now that the time for applications is over -and actually I don't know if people's plans have changed after this interview since it's been already a few months when I asked the questions. However, our students had plans like these at least then:

Iida, 3a

- I've considered the university of applied sciences, or at least I'm not planning to go to university. Helsinki is my first choice, Tampere the second.

-I got the idea to go there from a magazine article about a tv-cameraman actually only about a couple of months ago. I'm planning to study working among the media. Before this I had thought about getting a degree as a bachelor of social services.

-If I don't get in at the first attempt, I'm ready to try again. If I am not lucky even then, I think I'll figure out something else. A year off would also be an okay option.

Mikko, 3b

- I'll probably head for university to study history or social sciences, and it would be an okay option to get a teacher's or a researcher's education. But it's not yet clear. I want to travel a lot, and so I'll apply when it feels right, and I think I'll head for eastern Finland then. A year off sounds good, too!

Jasmin, 3b

- I think I'll have a year off, and I'll use that year for cycling and attending cycling competitions. And depending on what happens, maybe I'll head for the Vierumäki sports institute.

- I am dreaming about becoming a top athlete, and that's been my dream already for a long time. And so, at least I know I would like to do something with sports now.

- If I don't get in at the first attempt, I'm ready to try again, or then I'll try to apply to another sports institute, Varala.

I, the writer, have no very clear plans either. I've been talking about going to a restaurant shcool in Helsinki for about two years now, but I realised recently it's not maybe the best idea - becoming a waitress or a receptionist isn't exactly my dream, and maybe I should take some challenge and at least try to head higher, as so many have suggested. And so, I really did apply for university (in Vaasa) to study English. However, I also applied for the restaurant school.  If I don't get in, I'll just try to make new, better plans. Probably I'll try to apply for university again or for a university of applied sciences (to study travelling/cultural/theatrical studies for example). A year off isn't exactly on my plans, but it sounds good, too. What I really would like to do now is to travel, but I also want to finish my studies for good as soon as possible. But, only future will show me what happens, and how knows, maybe my true dreams will come true!

Now, may the odds be ever in our favor!

By Janette 3B

Great events in February

Due to our winter holidays and the busy schedule at school, it's only now that we have had time to write about the two great annual events at our school:  the school leaving party of the third year students and after that, the grand ball of the second year students.  But here we go now:






Goodbye elders



Thursday 14^th February was an emotional day for everyone in our school and especially so for our third year students who were having their traditional school leaving party, that is the "Penkkarit" event.




What is "Penkkarit" you ask?  It's an event where the third-year students dress up according to a theme they have chosen and they are also having an "Abi-show" and an "Abi-video" during that day. This year our third-year students chose to dress up as animated cartoon characters, and I have to say that the costumes were all well made. There were Hercules, Lightning Mcqueen, and even one member from the Teletubbies showed up and many more memorizable characters.

The "Abi-show" was a grand spectacle in its own right. I would imagine that it was an especially nice event for the third-year students as well as for our teachers who were being "punished" for being so hard on people during their three-years of time in FES. Teachers were made to participate in a series of trials and tests and according to how they fared, they were allowed to continue their trip to the Heaven or the Underworld. Only one lucky teacher received the endless glory and was allowed to enter heaven, in this case Disneyland. The Abi-show ended with an emotional "baby-video" in which there were baby pictures of our third-year students.

The "Abi-video" was also a hilarious event. Basically it was a video made by our third-year students and it contained a series of miniature movies in which the students made fun of our teachers. It was all in good spirit and I have to personally say that most of them were outright hilarious.

The day ended when our dear seniors loaded themselves on a truck and drove away in to the horizon, everyone looking for new adventures and eagerly waiting for their cruise on the sea.



Written by Ismo 1B


February 15th

A night to remember

Finally the day was here. The day we had been waiting for since we were 10 years old, well at least us girls. It was our time to be princesses and dance the whole day with our princes. It was the day of the Old Dances. In Finland it’s almost the same thing as the Prom in America, but here we practice the dances in advance and then perform them for the audience which consists of our parents, relatives and friends. 

We started practicing the dances at the beginning of December. During the first lessons everybody was a little tense but our team spirit grew fast and soon everybody was looking forward to those lessons. We had nine dances to learn and it felt really hard in the beginning. Luckily we had really good teachers! We managed to learn all the nine dances in time.

And then the day came. We needed to be at school at 10. Everybody woke up early so nobody was late. Five minutes before starting, we were standing in the hallway and everybody was really excited. As soon as the first song started playing we noticed that there was nothing to be nervous for. Everything went well, except for a few broken dresses and a couple of black toes.

Before the big night show we danced in the 'Syke' sports hall  in an open ceremony and some couples also went to dance in the Old people’s home or a kindergarten. Then we all went home to relax a little. 

The headmaster's speech in the morning.

In the evening we performed the dances to our closest relatives and friends, who we had invited to come. The night was perfect! Our school’s first graders had done an excellent job with our teachers by decorating the gym. We were able to remember all the nine dances plus the dance we had planned by ourselves. After the dances we took hundreds of photos and danced some waltzes with our guests. The night was soon over, and as the light was turned on it was time to change our clothes and leave for another place. The dancers went to eat in a restaurant and after that to have some fun with each other. It was our night and time to celebrate us being the oldest students in the school!

Written by Eeva 2B

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

The third year students' last school day

Last Friday was just like every Friday in FES -except for one thing... it was the last normal school day for us,for the third year students! In theory this means we "only" have some exams or other extra lessons, and preliminary exams this and next week, and then of course the school leaving party and the matriculation examinations, and finally the graduation ceremony. However, we don't have schedules anymore -except maybe at home, when we have to plan our reading.

Since it was the "last" day of school for us, we decided it was worth being a princess or a prince (or a king /a gueen), and you could choose which one you were. Our theme was based on our school leaving party theme, which is called "Abimation" (vs. "animation") this year. I think this made our day at least a little more easy-going than it normally is. When it comes to people´s feelings, it seemed many were relieved when they could say goodbye to their homework (even though it's far from over, since we have to study hard at home), or at least to their long days at classrooms. However, this also means we won't see each other that often anymore, and so it also felt quite melancholic. Luckily we have more fun coming ahead, since on 14th February we'll have our school leaving party, and the very next day most of us are going to a cruise with a ship full of other third year students from elsewhere Finland.

Now I can only wish us all the best of luck, and thank all of our teachers already for their good job! Hopefully all this hard working will turn out rewarding later this spring.

 

           Most of the girls were princesses, and some of us even had dresses on.

 

You could also find princes, or kings, but unfortunately without the white horse... 

Written by Janette 3B