My dreams

There was once a young Scottish communications officer in my team who had learned palmistry and read our fortunes at a party. I was told that I would work for a long time.

I would like to continue to live and work, learning new things and challenging the old. My time at university was so rewarding that for a long time I dreamt of going back to study. Now I understand that learning is not restricted to universities. My dream is to keep my thirst for life, knowledge and experience for as long as possible. Who knows, maybe I’ll get to re-graduate in 2040?

By Written by Arja Suominen (Riitta-Ilona Hurmerinta ed.). Translated by Kaisla Kajava, revised by Matthew Billington.

Arja Suominen

Born October 24, 1958, Forssa

BA 1982 (Finnish Language), BA 1986 (Finnish Literature), University of Helsinki
MA 1990 in the Faculty of Arts 350th anniversary degree ceremony
eMBA 2003, Turku School of Economics

SVP of Communications and Corporate Responsibility at Finnair, 2001-
SVP of Nokia Communications, 2004–2011
Various positions in communications at Nokia, 1982–2011
Research assistant, teacher and proofreader at the Institute for the Languages of Finland, Töölö secondary school and parliament

Member of the Finnish Chamber of Commerce’s Communications Committee, 2015-
Member of the Savolinna Opera Festival’s Board of Directors, 2015
Member of the Board of Directors of Esperi Care, 2014-
Member of the Confederation of Finnish Industries’ General Assembly, 2012-
Member of the Women’s Bank Steering Committee, 2012-

Photo: Pepe Makkonen, TeMaFoto Oy
Written by Arja Suominen (Riitta-Ilona Hurmerinta, ed.)
Translated by Joe McVeigh