The Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland
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The Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland
04.09.2025
Chair of the Executive Board of the Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland (ISYY), Emilia Enroth, represented the Student Union at the Opening Ceremony of the Academic Year 2025–2026 at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) in Joensuu on Thursday 4 September 2025.
In the speech, Enroth emphasised the opportunities offered by the student years to explore different communities and find one's own path. In order to succeed in their educational mission, the university and society must support and encourage students on this journey.
"The knowledge you gain at university isn’t limited to mastering the latest theory or research in your field. Through studying and making use of the opportunities the university offers, you also develop many other skills. For example, taking part in student associations or the student union – whether by organising events or taking on positions of responsibility – gives you valuable experience and skills that are also useful in working life."
"Students form a very heterogeneous group with diverse backgrounds. Each person’s capacity to study and work, as well as their financial and social resources, vary greatly. Student years are a time of searching for direction, making mistakes, and growing. These years are far too valuable to be reduced to stories of mere survival. When we invest in students, we are simultaneously investing in Finland’s future, and not a single student should be left behind", states Enroth.
Below, you can read the full speech.
Honourable rectors, guests, students, and the entire university community.
Autumn is, for many of us, a time of returning to our own community – to our workplace or place of study – but it is especially exciting for new students. Many freshmen have countless questions swirling in their minds: Do I belong at the university? Will I make friends? Am I good enough? To those new students, I say: try everything and say yes to as many things as possible without, of course, forgetting your own wellbeing. That is how your own path begins to form.
The knowledge you gain at university isn’t limited to mastering the latest theory or research in your field. Through studying and making use of the opportunities the university offers, you also develop many other skills. For example, taking part in student associations or the student union – whether by organising events or taking on positions of responsibility – gives you valuable experience and skills that are also useful in working life.
Your time as a student is a truly unique moment in life when you can freely explore your interests, try new things, and shape your own values. Along the way, you often build the most important relationships of your life.
There’s an old saying that your student years are the best time of your life. At its best, that can be true – a time when an individual finds their place in their community and feels their time is meaningful.
However, more and more students today are affected by feelings of inadequacy and worry about the future. The job market is uncertain, support systems are being changed, and global instability is causing concern in people’s personal lives. Students form a very heterogeneous group with diverse backgrounds. Each person’s capacity to study and work, as well as their financial and social resources, vary greatly.
Student years are a time of searching for direction, making mistakes, and growing. These years are far too valuable to be reduced to stories of mere survival. When we invest in students, we are simultaneously investing in Finland’s future, and not a single student should be left behind.
The university's mission is not only to educate future workers and thereby boost the productivity of Finland – its primary task is to nurture critical thinkers and active citizens.
Uncertainty in the world feeds polarization and makes it harder for people to tolerate differing opinions. Right now, more than ever, the world needs education, the courage to think independently, and – perhaps most importantly – the ability to understand one another. Even when someone else’s way of thinking feels completely foreign to us.
Being educated doesn’t mean always agreeing – it means being able to disagree while respecting each other. In a polarized world, that is exactly what we need.
Scientific thinking needs space, time, and freedom. Without academic freedom and freedom of speech, there can be no independent research, no critical dialogue, and no new insights. In times like these, it is more important than ever to uphold the values that enable free research and open discussion – to defend the very values on which science and Nordic democracy are built.
I wish us all the courage to think for ourselves, the ability to listen to one another, and the strength to walk our own path – even when the world around us becomes unsettled.