An Interview with Our School Social Worker, Kaarina Jaakkola
What are your hobbies?
- Reading, gardening and solving crosswords.
What is your job?
- I´m a school social worker.
What is your educational background?
- I hold a Master´s Degree in Political Science and Social Work.
What kind of person were you when you were a teen?
- I don´t remember, it´s so long time ago. Maybe the same as now.
What was you dream job when you were a teen?
- I didn´t have a dream job after school. First I worked as a librarian, but then I decided to study in university. I studied Social Politics and Political Science and at some point I thought that it would be interesting to work as a school social worker. So that´s how I became a school social worker.
Name three positive and three negative sides about your job.
- I´ll start with the negative ones. I have three schools to work at and a lot of student´s to help so it´s hard to find time for every student. Also, the holidays could be a little bit longer and the salary could be a little bit better.
- The positive sides are that it´s nice to work with children and teens, and I have nice workmates.
How much English do you use at work?
- Not that much. Very seldom. I try to start by speaking English but, usually, if we aren´t able to communicate in Finnish with my clients we get a translator.
What kind of advice would you give to our students?
- Take care of your health, don´t give up on your studies, do your homework regularly and have fun, too.
What are your plans for the summer holiday?
- I will go to my cottage and do some gardening.