Everyday Light: A Reflection from Finland

Posted November 11, 2025December 2, 2025 in Faculty, Spanish for Health Professions, Voices of Rutgers-Camden

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Quiet moments often invite the strongest reflections, and Finland has given Ana Laguna many of them. A candle lit at a café table, a dog’s collar glowing against the early night, the composed rhythm of winter routines. These are the details that shape her second reflection as she continues to write about what she is learning abroad. As Graduate Program Director for the Spanish for Health Professions Certificate and a Fulbright scholar at the University of Oulu, she is observing how daily gestures reveal a culture’s pace and temperament. Her first piece, Margarit, found meaning in art. This new reflection turns to the everyday as part of the Voices of Rutgers–Camden series.

Here is her second reflection.

2: Chronicles of Happiness by Ana Laguna

“We are getting into the lion’s den,” my mother used to say every fall.
Growing up under the generous sun of Spain, the shorter days of winter tamed her spirit (and that of our entire family). That may be why, even after becoming an adult in the U.S. Northeast, the thought of a 3:00 p.m. sunset in Finland unsettled me more than I dared to admit.

“For every hour of lost daylight, I’ll buy another lamp,” I joked at the warnings of kind colleagues and friends. Five lamps and half a dozen plug extensions later, I began to suspect that lightbulbs alone would never do the trick. I had to find another reference, another way to keep up with the incredibly fast pace of the Finnish winter.

Art is the lie,” Picasso used to say, “that allows us to see the truth.” And lie or truth, that saying became a lightning epiphany in the city of Turku.
Ana Laguna

**Featured works by Matti Rag Paananen:** Haifuuni, Small Boat, Stars Above the Sea.

Fortunately art came to my rescue. “Art is the lie,” Picasso used to say, “that allows us to see the truth.” And lie or truth, that saying became a lightning epiphany in the city of Turku. The Fulbright Finland Foundation had generously gifted us a guided visit to a local museum, and there I discovered the work of Matti Rag Paananen (1939–2022), an eclectic artist who traveled the world with a very Finnish heart.

As my group continued to move through the galleries, three of his paintings immediately caught my eye. They seemed like a Finnish echo of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, set not in a café but at sea. Each one showed, with slight variations, what appeared to be the same scene: the famous Finnish darkness embracing sky and sea, allowing a little white ship at the center to sail through a current of color. “That boat has to be the Finnish spirit itself,” I thought, guided by the patriotic chromaticism, noting how the white boats navigated with ease the beautiful yet turbulent waters of history, climate, or both.

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Illuminating the metaphor were the red stars that beamed like small suns in each painting, glowing across the skies even before the adored auroras appeared. “Are those stars,” I wondered, “or tiny suns?” The Finnish seasonal rhythms blur those distinctions, I surprised myself thinking. Maybe learning to appreciate those shifting lights is how you navigate the winter, I continued to ponder, my hands behind my back, admiring those three white ships that sit placidly and defiantly at the bottom of each painting.

That same placid and defiant attitude I recognize in the way people go about their days despite the early arrival of night. In coffee shops and restaurants, the staff greet you with a warm smile and a candle of your own, one that ceremoniously gets lit as you sit down, welcoming you to the table. Being a devoted candle enthusiast, that small gesture always brings me immense joy, but that is not the only way in which this night-in-day can lift my spirit. Out in the cold streets, I see dogs with small beaming lights on their collars — their own little red stars — announcing and celebrating their presence with each gesture.

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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.