September 27, 2024 When you’re 4,200 miles from home, it’s nice to see some friendly faces. Two new student athletes from Finland say they’ve been welcomed with open arms since starting this fall at Grand Rapids Community College. “I really like my teammates and everybody on campus is so open and kind and willing to help,” said Eevi Eskola, a defender in her first season on GRCC’s women’s soccer team.  Eskola is from Veikkola, a village near Helsinki in southern Finland. The 20-year-old is no stranger to Grand Rapids, though. She spent the 2021-22 school year as an exchange student at Northview High School. While she’d traveled extensively with her family as a young girl, she’d never visited Michigan until her placement here as an 11th-grader.  Eskola played soccer most of her life, including time on Northview’s girls team. She enjoyed her year in Grand Rapids and, after returning home to complete high school, realized she wasn’t ready to give up on soccer — or Michigan. She and her father created a soccer highlight reel and started sending it to U.S. college coaches. Her soccer skills caught the eye of GRCC Women’s Soccer Head Coach Jason Hill.  She enjoys playing for the  Raiders and pursuing a  business degree  at GRCC. Ideally, she’d like to earn an associate degree and move on to a four-year university to continue playing while earning a bachelor’s degree. Or she may eventually return to Finland to become a dentist. “I'm not really sure yet,” Eskola said. “If soccer goes really good, I may stay in the U.S. for the whole four years.” Fellow Finn Nicolas Knuutila is also thrilled with the chance to attend GRCC and play men’s college basketball. He, too, discovered GRCC after sharing his own highlight video with U.S. coaches in hopes of getting recruited. “One of the junior colleges that reached out to me was GRCC and I was immediately interested in playing for them,” said Knuutila, 20. “I wanted to learn more about the school and watched a few of their games on YouTube and liked what I saw. “Once I looked into the academic possibilities for me here, it seemed like the perfect fit.” He and his father arrived in Grand Rapids in August so he could begin practicing with the men’s basketball team. He hopes to play basketball as long as possible for a college team while pursuing a degree in sports management. He’s studying  business at GRCC. Knuutila said he likes his teammates and looks forward to a great  basketball season  beginning Nov. 1 with a game at College of Lake County in Grayslake, Ill. Both Finnish students say they are exploring Grand Rapids and the region as their sports and class schedules allow. They both appreciate the time and attention from GRCC academic advisors and professors to get them started in the right direction. “At GRCC, there are so many resources and support to make sure you succeed in your classes, which is really nice,” Eskola said. “In colleges in Finland, I think students are more on their own to figure things out. “I know coming to GRCC was the right move for me and I’m so excited to be here.” This story was reported by Beth McKenna.