Finlandia recognizes Class of 2018

The most magical moment of the year took place Sunday afternoon as the Finlandia University Class of 2018 was recognized during the annual commencement ceremony at 1:30 p.m. at the Paavo Nurmi Center. At the ceremony 73 students were conferred degrees, while they heard from Alumni Speaker Kathleen Harmon ‘86, Student Representative and Nursing Major Melissa Helppi, and Commencement Speaker Marilyn Clark.

Clark, CEO of MTEC SmartZone and former FinnU professor in the International School of Business, spoke to the students about the importance of finding the right life balance to lead a successful life.

“Figure out how you want to live your life, and have the courage to go out and do it,” she urged the graduates.

"If you have a passion and an expertise, and you learn to help others with that. You will never be without a job." – Marilyn Clark, Commencement Speaker at the 2018 Commencement Ceremony. #FinnU #FinlandiaGradWeekend

— Finlandia University (@FinlandiaU) April 29, 2018

Helppi spoke in depth about the need to live your best life.

“Live the life that you want to tell someone about,” she said. “Make mistakes, not regrets.”

“Life would be boring if we knew the whole story from the start. Life is meant to have ups and downs. I know, the highs are a lot higher if you’ve had the low.”

"Live the life that you want to tell someone about. Make mistakes, not regrets." – Melissa Helppi, Student Representative during Commencement 2018 #FinnU #FinlandiaGradWeekend

— Finlandia University (@FinlandiaU) April 29, 2018

Harmon, who graduated with a nursing degree and has now been in the industry for more than 32 years, spoke in depth about the gift of sisu that Finlandia bestows upon its students.

“Sisu isn’t something that can be turned on or off,” she said. “It’s not a work thing. It’s an all-the-time thing. If we are hungry enough we can (do anything).”

"In the words of my dad, 'when the going gets tough, the tough get tougher.'" – Kathleen Harmon '86, Alumni Speaker at Commencement 2018 #FinnU #SISU

— Finlandia University (@FinlandiaU) April 29, 2018

Photos and video from the ceremony will be posted at finlandia.edu/graduation over the coming days.