The challenges may seem a long list of Herculean tasks at times and an enormous effort to come up with new, and considerable effort is consistently made to develop new and effective methods to bring international students, prospective employers, and the broader community together.
I think that one good way to start the hard work might be defining what integration really means and when it happens, if we want to believe some sort of thing simply… happens. Establishing the clear difference between integration and assimilation seems to be adamant as well, especially as most of our international students who come to Finland arrive in the country as adults, therefore expecting them to erase who they are and uploading a new identity is unrealistic. But most importantly, seeing our international students as assets who can contribute to building a more prosperous country and not liabilities to deal with seems to be essential to achieve said success.
It is true that international students need tailored assistance in many situations during their adaptation journey in Finland. However, they are also a great source of possibilities as everyone has a talent, a special skill, an interesting story to tell. I believe it’s time we take a more holistic view of international students, try to identify their unique selling points (USPs) and allow them to shine. By doing this, we oppose the damaging narrative that portrays our international student community as merely frail, deficient or problematic.
That is the pillar of the work I try to develop at Xamk, putting international students in the forefront of their experience, creating opportunities for them to introduce themselves as human beings, opening the front doors and assigning them a seat at the “adult table” as much as I can. And I feel blessed that many like-minded individuals along the way who help make this happen.
The Domino Effect
That is how an interesting event came to life: I was chatting with some students while we were in EKAMI’s kitchen preparing one of our Maailman Maut Suomessa* dinner events when Wealth Flourish, our Nursing degree student from Nigeria, shared that he is a self-taught pianist and that he plays at one of the local churches in Kotka. I immediately asked him if he would be interested in performing in a public venue and he said yes! With this new information in mind, I started contacting my network to ask them if they would be interested in hosting Flourish’s performance in the near future. It did not take long to find a ‘partner in crime’: Kohtaamisten Keittiö!
Kohtaamisten Keittiö is a project in Kotka where lunches prepared with surplus ingredients donated by local schools and businesses are served free of charge to anyone who pops in on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 – 16:00. It is a very cozy environment which welcomes people from all walks of life with warm food and a sense of community.
So… on 9 May 2024, Wealth Flourish delivered a beautiful pocket concert when he played six songs from a diverse portfolio. The audience, composed by Finnish, international and exchange students as well as local residents of all ages, loved Flourish’s performance (as evidenced by the comments below) and asked for more similar events in the future. There was one Xamk exchange students from Germany among the audience members, Jan Riffel, who is a guitarist/singer and after a brief chat with Inka Setälä from the community kitchen, we started planning his performance that took place in the following week. And one thing led to another: after Jan’s performance, Flourish and he agreed to perform together in the following week.
In the photos you can find Jan in his solo performance at Kohtaamisen Keittiö, piano & guitar duo by Flourish and Jan, and Flourish receiving greetings from the audience – music does unite people!
Jan’s feedback regarding his performance: “for me it was a really nice experience to play the first time alone in a Café. Singing without a microphone was a challenge in finding the right volume, but at the same time, it felt more natural while performing. I felt warm welcomed and what I was most pleased about was that some of my friends came to the performance😊. It was a very cozy atmosphere in Kohtaamisten keittiö. The employees create a warm welcome for different kind of people.”
The audience’s perspective
Click here to watch a short video with highlights of Flourish’s performance and some comments. Below you will find some comments from the audience regarding Flourish’s performance:
- Flourish presentation broke the school routine in a very special way. It was great to see classmates and Kotka citizens enjoying the universal language of music by Flourish’s hands.
- It’s incredible the amount of talent that the international students have, just we need someone that can take us of the shell – Genesis Medina
- Beautiful concert, my man, the music was calming and well played. The vibe was cozy and warm – Ahmed
- Thank you for the beautiful concert and for inviting us. You played really well and you made playing the piano look easy and smooth – Klara
- It was an exciting and interesting time. It was lovely to hear the piano play so perfectly. Great job Flourish – Rhoda
- A very enchanting experience that really provided a calming and peaceful atmosphere I loved every second of it – Samuel
- It was an amazing performance. I was really proud as a friend how far you have taken this talent of yours. It was very melodic and beautiful! Hope you hone your skills even more – Yaj
- I got goosebumps at every song you played. I think we all saw how much you enjoy doing this and this is what made your performance special. It was really touching and I am super proud of you! Continue doing this, because you truly are amazing! – Tjaša
- I really looked forward to your performance and it was amazing. So, I knew before it that you’re good, but it was I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E. I really loved your songs, I got goosebumps. Hope to hear more from you! – Katja.
- I greatly enjoyed the performance. A nice variety of songs, all performed with wonderful emotion, and your energy throughout was absolutely infectious. Well done my friend! – Georg
- I didn’t know this guy was this good at playing the piano. I didn’t know all the songs I heard, but I enjoyed them. It was a very good concert. Thank you for inviting me. – Hong
- I loved the performance. It was unbelievably amazing, and I was speechless. Taking all the photographs was a great experience and seeing everyone happy, enjoying the performance made me happy as well. Good job Flourish – Shambhavi
And here is a short video with Jan’s performance as well.
Next steps
Flourish was recently invited by Mylly to perform at one of their events this July (“Meripäivä etkot” in Mylly 18th of July at 16–18) and we intend to continue organizing musical performances all year round.
And if you are an international student with a special talent in music or other types of arts, sports, food or anything that can be shared with our community, contact me and we will discuss possibilities to organize an event or session: valeria.pinto@xamk.fi.
*Note: Maailman Maut Suomessa is a series of monthly dinners where international students prepare their home country food for Finnish guests talking about every and anything, but also asking them about their hobbies, interests and talents.