A year I wish to never forget

I will do my best not to turn this freshman year recap article into an Anglica appreciation post, but you know I can make no such promises There, you have been warned and so I shall not be held accountable if you encounter such cheesiness I of course do not speak for all my peers, but I will also say that what you lay before your eyes is not a retelling of a year of meticulous studying, reading the course books, and paying attention to the lectures. Surely that is someone’s story, but it isn’t mine. So if that’s what you are looking for, I kindly advise you to turn the page. I began to write this article in the middle of the night on deadline day. Surely that sums up my academic year just fine

I feel extremely lucky that I was a part of the first batch of freshers to witness a somewhat normal introduction to university life in the past couple of years. Something that can not be taken for granted and has eased our integration into academia (and the infamous student life). I had barely gotten over the initial shock of being accepted into Turku university before the orientation for us freshers began The information overload of the first few days hit us like a truck and there were activities to spare. From getting to know the city of Turku to speed friending we did it all, including losing to the Oldies in a game of football the result of which is information I am not willing to enclose. Since then we have learned the ins and outs of Anglican sitz culture, avenged the older students in the form of Kostajaiset, and sailed across the seas aboard Not-Goom We have gotten to know Q-house like the back of our hands both in the form of partying the night away and cleaning the premises the following morning We have sat through countless lectures and meetings and celebrated our beloved Anglica’s 65TH anniversary. How so many memories have been formed in such a short amount of time remains a mystery to me.

It feels like just yesterday that we were trying on the sample-sized student overalls in Signum’s Kaffila (may it rest in peace). After the initial struggle of patch sewing (and oh boy it was a struggle) it has against all odds turned out to be quite a nice activity. Since their arrival in November, our dear overalls might have lost their shine and brand-newness, but they have been the uniform for memory-making these past months and a vital part of our student identities

All that lies between us freshers and the summer with which arrives the harsh reality of us not being freshers anymore is the ever-so-famous May Day celebrations.

I will always remember this past year as a year of new friends, awesome experiences and belonging Our first year as Anglicans has absolutely flown by. Even though the reminiscing about our first year is nowhere near over and the sadnessinduced emotions of having to let go of my piltti-identity are sure to hit me sooner rather than later, I am glad to be able to say that our Anglica-years have just begun.

Anniina Peltonen