After working for a decade in the corporate world, Jaakko Haarala jumped on the opportunity to study in the Master’s Degree programme Ethnic Relations, Cultural Diversity and Integration (ERI) at the University of Helsinki – motivated by a desire to figure out his own multicultural identity, and perhaps more importantly, to get a taste of Helsinki’s renowned university life. Having lived his entire adolescence in Spain and four years in the UK, Jaakko recalls feeling a sense of dislocation after moving back to Finland, as his Southern European mentality was in many ways at odds with the Nordic way of life. But being so acutely aware of his disposition as a ‘third culture kid’ has given Jaakko an insight to the importance of intercultural relations, and he has been actively involved in campaigning for international students’ rights with the organisation Tsemppi and helping to found Cissi, the Committee of International Social Scientists at the university.
Jaakko admits to still feeling very much like an international student himself even after all these years in Finland, and his outgoing nature together with his love for student parties have brought along many dear friends whom he is grateful to have in his life. It is precisely through bridging connections between cultures and people that ideas and beliefs can be exchanged and mutual understandings can be facilitated, and for Jaakko, the political facets of ethnic relations in today’s globalised world are of particular interest in his master’s thesis on descriptive representation in the Finnish parliament. As descriptive representation – the idea that elected representatives in a democracy should also mirror their constituencies in politically relevant characteristics such as ethnicity or gender – has been argued to be crucial for representing marginalised groups in society, Jaakko hopes to discover its significance in the context of Finland through interviews he had conducted with Finnish politicians of multicultural backgrounds.
As a ‘third culture kid’ myself, I felt I had found a kindred spirit in Jaakko who, like me, continues to balance and embody two worlds and all the disparities and similarities in between. So of course I had to ask those forever elusive questions, whether he has finally figured himself out, if he has finally found a place to call home. He hasn’t, and wondered if anyone ever completely figures themselves out, considering how we go through life constantly being molded and changed by our surroundings and other people. As for the latter question, the answer was simple: home is where the heart resides and at the moment it’s right here in Helsinki, with his wife and baby son.