University of Helsinki
I journey with my backpack and meet people whose stories touch me to the core of my heart. As a researcher, I cannot remain cold and distant. I sense a connection. I feel inexplicable gratitude for the positive acceptance I receive.
How can people who have gone through such hard experiences from an early age show such compassion and acceptance towards others? People are naked before each other. And I, as a researcher, get to be part of their circle of compassion.
For the seventh year running, I conduct research on young people transitioning from out-of-home care. I have come to know youth in the process of transitioning, and their support workers, in Finland and in the UK. I study the way young people experience leaving a foster family or a child welfare institution. I ask them how their transition to independence could have been supported even better.
This is my journey of exploration into the world of young people. While I am deeply grateful for having met such fine youth, workers and researchers along the way, I also feel sadness because I have seen how some of these young people have lived lives of struggle since an early age. Life does not treat everyone fairly, or give everyone equal opportunities. The most profoundly touching are the situations of youth who feel that they do not have a single adult close to them that they could trust and rely on. How does it feel to wander the streets when you don’t know what to do with your life? Wondering if you’re just another job assignment for the carers, and part of their daily routine, or wondering why your relationship with your parents failed?