It's not just the brainy boys there
On Wednesday I wrote my last exam for my major. Now I'm only missing one comparative literature essay and one exam and I'll have a BA, even if I didn't originally intend to get any sort of degree from the Faculty of Arts.
Having written that exam gave me an incredible sense of peace and near-zen calm. It felt like Christmas even if I knew I still had tons of work to get through before the weekend in my day job.
Leaving Porthania it struck me how the university in general gives me an intense feeling of calm and well-being. I think that if I ever felt so stressed out I would not know what to do with myself, I would probably go to Metsätalo, climb to the top floor to the English Department and curl up in one of the big old leather armchairs in the hall and things would be fine. If I'd need to hide, I'd go to the second floor of the library, where you're surrounded by nothing but dusty tomes.
When I've felt unable to focus on reading anywhere else, I've gone to the main library and spent hours engrossed in my book under the frescoed domes, surrounded by the floors and floors of ladder-crisscrossed bookcases and arched windows. The courtyard of the Renvall Institute is, for me, what university should look like.
My girlfriend C told me that for her, the architecture alone has that calming effect, and, you know, I think I agree. 30's functionalist Metsätalo, late at night, with its tender green walls, winding staircases, wood accents and gentle lighting can't but slow me down, in that good, at-peace-with-the-world way.
I also like the way the buildings embody erudition - how they stand there for the purpose of building and sharing knowledge on topics that don't make money for anyone. They stand for my old English professor shuffling along the corridors, muttering to himself about post-colonial literature. It's unhurried and old-fashioned and beautiful and intelligent. It gives me faith in the world that there are still places like that.
Having written that exam gave me an incredible sense of peace and near-zen calm. It felt like Christmas even if I knew I still had tons of work to get through before the weekend in my day job.
Leaving Porthania it struck me how the university in general gives me an intense feeling of calm and well-being. I think that if I ever felt so stressed out I would not know what to do with myself, I would probably go to Metsätalo, climb to the top floor to the English Department and curl up in one of the big old leather armchairs in the hall and things would be fine. If I'd need to hide, I'd go to the second floor of the library, where you're surrounded by nothing but dusty tomes.
When I've felt unable to focus on reading anywhere else, I've gone to the main library and spent hours engrossed in my book under the frescoed domes, surrounded by the floors and floors of ladder-crisscrossed bookcases and arched windows. The courtyard of the Renvall Institute is, for me, what university should look like.
My girlfriend C told me that for her, the architecture alone has that calming effect, and, you know, I think I agree. 30's functionalist Metsätalo, late at night, with its tender green walls, winding staircases, wood accents and gentle lighting can't but slow me down, in that good, at-peace-with-the-world way.
I also like the way the buildings embody erudition - how they stand there for the purpose of building and sharing knowledge on topics that don't make money for anyone. They stand for my old English professor shuffling along the corridors, muttering to himself about post-colonial literature. It's unhurried and old-fashioned and beautiful and intelligent. It gives me faith in the world that there are still places like that.