On 2003, I remember myself watching “Brother Bear” when I learned about the northern lights for the first time. Years later, a friend of mine told me he was visiting a country called Finland which had the best educational system all over the world. Only a couple months ago, I decided to try luck applying to the Foreign Correspondents’ Program in Finland. Today, the fact that I’m finally visiting the country I’ve heard so much about, still looks unrealistic to me.
My name is Paula, I’m 22 years old and I’m from Chile, the longest and narrowest country in the entire world. I live in Los Andes -the closest city to the Andes mountains- with my family, 2 dogs and a hedgehog. I’m a cheerful person and one of the things I most enjoy in life is to know new people, food, and places.
When I finished school, I knew I was passionate about two things: in one hand, I loved telling stories that deserved to be told. In the other one, I was convinced that I wanted to be an agent of change in my country and the world. Because of this, I decided to study Journalism and I’m currently on my last year of studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
These past years I’ve tried to combine my spirit as a volunteer with my vocation as a non-fiction writer. As a result, I have been able to reach stories, realities and people that have changed my life and my readers (I hope). Even though I love my country, there are some dark parts of it that deserve to be told and shown.
In a few days, I’ll be at Finland, the happiest country in the whole world and also 13,000 kilometers away from home. I’m sure that all of the things that I’ve heard and read about it will be even better and I’m also sure that everything I learn from this beautiful country and my future friends will help me in my quest to be a change agent and a better person.
See you soon! 😊