Lutfor Rahman, third year student of Human Ageing and Elderly Service at Arcada, has eyes that glow with positive energy. Lutfor from Bangladesh applied to Arcada on the advice of his brother, a graduate of the Arcada Degree Programme in Industrial Mangement. However, Lutfor was only interested in part of the advice. "I wanted to study at Arcada for sure, but Technology wasn't my field of interest. My main interest is people, and so the choice was easy." Visa issues delayed his start by a few months but once he got going with his studies there was no stopping him.
Lutfor has been a highly motivated and extremely diligent student. He is now working on his thesis and will be graduating before the expected 3,5 years. And ever since the second year he has been working at a centre for the elderly, where he has also chosen to do his work placements. At Arcada he has enjoyed studying within a small multicultural programme, with great opportunities to make friends for life. He has a good and personal relationship with each one of his teachers and feels he gets the support he needs.
Lutfor has loved studying and his interest in the field is growing along with his understanding. He says his studies have by far exceeded his expectations, but work teaches him there are fields that the bachelor programme doesn't cover so well. Medication and clinical gerontology, for example, are fields he would like to know more about. But he should be filling in these gaps before long. "I intend to stay in the field and go as far as I can. Next step will be a master's degree and ultimately my goal is a PhD", he says, describing his future plans. To him student life has been strongly focused on studies and work for the simple reason that it is a field he loves.
Working in the field of elderly service takes mental as well as physical fitness. But according to Lutfor it is worth the while if you have a caring mind. His main mission is to make residents and colleagues at work laugh - or at least smile. He admits that learning Finnish has been a challenge, a battle that he is determined to win. By now he understands the language quite well and speaks enough to get by, but written reports are also part of the work. He has also found that Swedish would be useful to know - and a whole lot easier - so he is trying to improve his skills in both of the national languages. However, his limited Finnish skills have never caused him any problems with the residents at the home. "If you have a caring mind there is no such thing as a language barrier", he says. In the field of elderly service there is enough work for any professional willing to work. And with the increasing population of elderly people, it is a field where skilled professionals are finally highly valued. Lutfor is happy to see that bachelors
of social services (geronomi in Finnish) are finally seen not as nurses, but as professionals in elderly care within the field.
Lutfor has split feelings about the future. On the one hand he would like to take his competence home to Bangladesh and do something for his people. On the other hand, he knows his work is valuable in Finland too, and the salary is far better here. For now Lutfor wants to stay on and learn all he can, studying and working. In his spare time he likes to take pictures, spend time outdoors, meet up with friends - and read books on gerontology.