Margrit: A Reflection on Everyday Joy from Finland

Posted October 20, 2025October 27, 2025 in Faculty, Spanish for Health Professions, Voices of Rutgers-Camden

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In Finland, where the light fades quickly in autumn and the air carries both quiet and clarity, Ana Laguna is discovering how the smallest encounters can speak to the largest truths. As Graduate Program Director for the Spanish for Health Professions Certificate and a Fulbright scholar at the University of Oulu, she is adapting her Rutgers–Camden curriculum for a country renowned for its innovation in education and health. This reflection is part of the Voices of Rutgers–Camden series, where members of our community share their perspectives in writing, video, and spoken word—a celebration of both the everyday and the extraordinary. This one is called Margrit.

1: Chronicles of Happiness: Margrit by Ana Laguna

Before I moved here a couple of weeks ago, I had visited Finland briefly for just a few days. Realizing that a glass of prosecco cost ten euros and that we were losing six minutes of daylight each day in October, I confess I initially wondered if there was any truth to the famous Nordic happiness I had heard so much about.

It was a very gentle woman, Margrit, who early on tipped the scale for me. I met her on one of the pristine buses that take me to campus every day. It was a particularly dark afternoon, but Margrit’s smile at my obviously foreign face lit my spirit and stopped me mid-thought.

In Spanish, we say one must pay homage to oneself—darse un homenaje—do something nice for oneself from time to time.
Ana Laguna

“I love your glasses,” I said, smiling back.
“Oh, I just got new ones this morning!” she replied, pointing at her bag; the new pair rested somewhere deep in a bag that also carried a colorful yoga mat.
“Nice,” I said. “And you went to yoga today to celebrate?”

I regretted the intrusion immediately. My brilliant host had reminded me of Bertolt Brecht’s observation that Finnish people were fluent in both Swedish and Finnish so they could be silent in two languages. Margrit, not following Brecht’s indictment, not only forgave my indiscretion but rewarded it:

“Yeah! And then I had pizza,” she said with an even bigger smile, leaning closer. “And I’m even bringing some home!”

I clapped, half shocked, half envious.

“And now,” she added, “I’m stopping at an amazing bakery here,” she said, pointing somewhere between the trees and the lake, “and I’m going to have cake… to finish.”
“To finish the meal?” I asked, laughing.
“No, to finish the day,” she corrected, laughing louder. “Coffee and cake!”
“Of course,” I said a bit too eagerly. People politely stared, but she didn’t care. “In Spanish,” I continued, “we say one must pay homage to oneself— darse un homenaje— do something nice for oneself from time to time.”
“Oh yes,” she said brightly. “You must do that daily!”

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I laughed loudly again, really pushing it. Over the next eight minutes, she filled me in on her continuous, personal homage protocols: the afternoon treats on that rainy day and the visit she would pay the following morning to her summer cottage by the coast. “We’ll have some sun, you know; you have to use it,” she warned. Clearly she was not one to let a ray of sunshine go to waste.

“I need to prepare my garden for winter,” she said. “It’s small, but I love it there. It gives me flowers all summer long.”
“How wonderful,” I gasped. “Is that cottage very far from your place?”
“Not at all,” she smiled. “I go by bike.”
“By bike?” I asked. Margrit had told me she was in her seventies. “So it’s really close, then?”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “Only nine kilometers!”

I closed my eyes, trying not to laugh this time. I don’t know many North Americans with that kind of vitality in their seventies.

Bridge the Gap: Spanish for Health Professions Certificate for Equitable Care

The fully online Graduate Certificate in Spanish for Health Professions is designed for healthcare providers, public health professionals, and medical students seeking to improve communication and cultural fluency with Spanish-speaking patients. With over 37 million native Spanish speakers in the U.S., the program meets a growing demand for inclusive, culturally responsive care. This 12-credit certificate offers flexible, asynchronous coursework grounded in real-world health interactions, and includes the option to pursue Medical Community Interpreter certification. Recognized with awards from AACN, the Fulbright Foundation, and Rutgers University, the program equips professionals to deliver more equitable care, enhance patient trust, and expand their impact across clinical and community health settings.