When I was a small boy, I said I would be president when I grew up. I didn’t become president, but I have interviewed President Sauli Niinistö on the FBC radio programme Ajantasa, where the author Mikko Rimminen was also a guest.

I studied for my Master’s degree between 1989 and 1996. I then had a gap of two years, after which I engaged in sporadic periods of postgraduate study between 1998 and 2009. I would have liked to stay at the University forever.

My best university memories are related to like-minded friends. We met at the main building hall, went to the canteen together and dug out books to lend to each other from our bags.

University got me into the classics. If I read something that isn’t work-related news, it’s almost always the classics. Novelty is a reading criterion I don’t understand, let alone various awards like the Nobel or the Finlandia. There are still plenty of classics I haven’t read. I hunger for them.