When everyone was a student in the tenth grade, the numbers obtained from the exams could be a shame. It was different in my own high school, writes HS city reporter Elina Nissinen.
In high school I was a girl in my twenties, and very proud of my success. I went to an ordinary high school in a medium-sized city, where it was easy to stand out.
But my self-esteem took a hit when I met the crème de la crème of my age group, the elite high school students, for the first time at a national event for high school students.
They were already so smart and skilled at the age of 16. Hardly anyone is as intelligent even as an adult.
My own English language skills and knowledge of the EU had been at a comfortable level at Mikkeli high school, but I was far behind the native speech of diplomats' children and IB students and the special courses of the then European students.
I was jealous. How could I ever compete with them for matriculation exam boards – and later for jobs?
On the other hand as I listened to other students, the darker side of elite high schools began to dawn on me. When everyone was in their twenties, the result obtained from the exam was a disappointment and shame for many.
It was different in my own high school, where all grades above eight were a great success.
More important than grades were the usual high school questions: who were friends, who seemed to be in love, and what had happened at the local night club Vaakuna on Friday.
Not all elite high school students struggle with grades or crumble under pressure, but for me, a normal high school was right for me in terms of peace of mind.
I'm not no longer jealous of the special courses of weighted lines.
When I got to study journalism, I noticed that almost none of my freshman friends were from media high school. There was only one, and even he had mostly made it to a few delivery visits.
The most fulfilling thing for me in high school was being in the school newspaper, which had little to do with the courses. There were only two active mother tongue teachers running the magazine.
When I compared Espoo's high schools thing for, I was thinking about this. There is a considerable amount of emphasis in the city. There are sports and fine art lines, just to name a few.
Read more: Admission to an elite high school heralds academic success – getting into Espoo's high schools is difficult
However, what was important to me in high school was that the teachers were enthusiastic and persistently supported the students.
There are certainly such teachers in every high school in Finland.
As an adult I'm convinced that the smart young people I meet would certainly be at roughly the same point in their lives regardless of their high school.
A motivated student who gets good grades will do well in Finland researched indeed it was about the same whether you were in an elite high school or not.
The bigger question is how to find a suitable upper secondary school for a young person in need of support.
Correction 6.2. 4:51 p.m.: In the story, it was wrongly said that the high school in Espoo had a business line. The mention has been removed, because the business line is at Kauniainen high school.
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