Kun pääsin takaisin Hartfordiin niin siellä oli jo hieman lunta maassa, manasin sitä koska joutuisimme treenaamaan lumisella kentällä. Mutta kun pääsin takaisin opiskelija asuntooni niin fiilikset paranivat hurjasti kun kämppikseni Peter yllätti minut, hän oli tullut takaisin kouluun jo pari päivää sitten eikä ollut kertonut minulle mitään. Oli hauska nähdä häntä pitkästä aikaa ja juttelimme pitkän aikaa että mitä kaikkea meille oli tapahtunut loman aikana. Saavuin melko myöhään illalla Hartfordiin ja tajusin että minullahan on koulu seuraavana päivänä, joten oli pakko mennä samantien nukkumaan, että saisin itseni ylös seuraavana aamuna. Stressasin ensimmäisen viikon ajan että mitenköhän koulu taas mahtaa sujua mutta samalla rutiinillahan se sujui eikä tuottanut vaikeuksia. Kevään aikana sain myös suorittaa noin kuukauden pituisen harjoittelujakson nimeltä "Field Work", jolloin menin vajaaksi kuukaudeksi University of Hartford Magnet Schooliin 5. luokan opettajan avustajaksi. Se oli todella antoisa kuukausi ja opein todella paljon tulevasta ammatistani ja viimeistään tämän kokemuksen myötä olin varma että opettajan ammatti on juuri minulle sopiva työ.
Kevät lukukausi oli hauskaa aikaa mutta myös raskasta. Se ei ollut pelkästään joukkuekavereiden kanssa ulos menoa ja hauskanpitoa Magnet Schoolissa, sillä kevään aikana joukkueemme treenasi 3 kertaa päivässä. Joka maanantai, keskiviikko ja perjantai aamu klo 7 aloitimme noin 45 minuutin juoksutreenillä. Suomessa ei niin kauheasti tuohon fitnespuoleen kiinnitetty huomiota ja Suomessa maalivahdit ei todellakaan juotunut juoksemaan niin voitte kuvitella miten meikäläinen aina oli viimeisten joukossa ja hyvä että en välillä pyörtynyt treenin aikana, varsinkin kun juoksimme pitkää matkaa. Lyhyet spurtit sujuivat kuitenkin hyvin koska niitä maalivahdit tekevät yleensäkin. Sitten virkistävän aamu fitneksen jälkeen päivällä oli ensin noin puolentoista tunnin kenttätreeni, jonka jälkeen suoriksi menimme tunnin puntille. Ainakin saatiin joka jätkä huippu kuntoon. Sanoinkin valmentajille että olen oikean elämän Teräsmies tälläisen kevään jälkeen ja että vanhempani eivät tunnista minua kun menen kotiin.
Ensimmäinen vuoteni Hartfordissa oli onnistunut, menestyin koulussa oikein hyvin ja minut oli valittu kauden päätteeksi America East All-Rookie Teamiin ja olin todella iloinen että sain olla osa Hartford Hawks yhteisöä. Mutta kirjaimellisesti en jaksanut odottaa että pääsisin takaisin Suomeen ja nauttimaan Suomen kesästä!
_______________________________________________________________________
In the U.S, the Christmas break is always pretty much a month long period, which is awesome compared to break in Finland. I got to spend a whole month with my family and closest friends in lovely snowy Finland. Basically, I spent the whole near my dearest because I had longed them quite a bit. Christmas is actually my favorite time of the year, besides the long summer break and my birthday. :D On Christmas all the people are just so happy and full of Christmas spirit and of course the food is phenomenal as well. After a month it was time to go back to Hartford for school and soccer. I wasn't eager to leave for Hartford at first, because I didn't want to leave my family and mom's delicious cookings again but man's gotta do what man's gotta do. To be honest it was already a time to leave after devouring food for a month. At the beginning it was obviously a little hard to leave but I also knew that it would be so exciting and fun to get back to Hartford as well. This time even the flight to New York went smoothly and all the body fluids remained inside of me. :D
Once I was back in Hartford, I noticed that they had had a little bit snow, which I didn't like because we would have to practice on a field that was covered with snow. But when I got back to my dorm I started to feel better because my roommate Peter surprised me. He had gotten back a couple days before me and hadn't tell me about it so it was a nice surprise. It was a pleasure to talk to him once again and we had a good chat regarding our Christmas breaks. When I got back on campus it was pretty late and I realized that I would have class tomorrow morning, so I had to get in bed, in order to be able to get my ass out of the bed early in the morning. For the first week of school I was stressing out but I ended up having zero trouble and I found that it is the same routine as it was last semester. During the spring I got to perform a month long field work period at the University of Hartford Magnet School, assisting a 5th grade teacher Ms. Hurley, who was truly an amazing person and after working with her I was sure that becoming a teacher is my calling. Overall, it was a very rewarding month at UHMS, I learned so much about my future occupation and I just knew that becoming a teacher was my path.
University of Hartford Magnet School
The spring semester was a good time but it was pretty tough too. It wasn't just kicking in, going out with the teammates and having fun at the Magnet School, because in the spring our team practiced 3 times a day. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we would begin a fitness training at 7am, running our asses up and down the field for 45 minutes. In Finland the coaches didn't emphasize the fitness part as much as in the States. In Finland goalkeepers did not run, they were doing goalkeeper stuff. So you can imagine that I was always in the last pack stepping over the finish line. Many times I felt like fainting, especially when we were running long distance. Those short sprints were more my thing because goalkeepers do that naturally on the field. Then after the refreshing morning fitness we would have a hour and half long soccer session on the field, after which we would hit the weight room for an hour. At least we were all ripped after the spring. I remember telling my coaches that after at the end of the spring I'll be a real life Superman and my parents won't recognize me when I go back home.
My first full year at University of Hartford was very successful, I did great in school and I had been chosen for the America East All-Rookie Team and overall I was very happy and lucky to be part of Hartford Hawks family. However, I literally couldn't wait to get back to Finland and enjoy the Finnish summer!
In addition I want to thank my personal advisor Dr. D for assisting me with my class schedules and recommending me to Ms. Hurley at the Magnet School. I also wanna thank Ms. Hurley for extremely educating month with her and the 5th graders!
