When the Egyptian Tarek Fahmy was planning to move to Finland, many people warned them of the challenges associated with settling in Finland and Finnish society: Climate, language, culture and customs, among other things. 

- I haven't really had a problem with anything. Studying at Laurea has made it easy for me to integrate in Finland, and I quickly felt that Finland is my home, says Tarek. 

He began his studies in Laurea's English-language Service Innovation and Design Master's degree programme in 2020. 

Introduction to service design also through theory

Originally, Tarek Fahmy has completed a business degree in Egypt. He worked in diverse positions in areas such as marketing and business operations development. The first contact with service design happened seven years ago, after starting work at USAID's Innovation Lab. 

- At that time, we worked on numerous societal impact projects such as Tanzania, Malawi and South Africa, Tarek says. 

- In these projects, I was able to prove how important and effective different innovation tools can be. I was impressed by this, even though I didn’t know at the time that it was about service design.

After this, Tarek learned more about service design, and in 2020 they decided to take a new direction in their career. He familiarised himself with the offerings of different higher education institutions and decided to apply to Laurea. The selection emphasised the good reputation of Laurea and its experts in the field of service design, and the opportunity to work and study at the same time.

- The practice of service design - one could say street language - was familiar to me, but now my studies have also provided me with a theoretical background. This has been really eye-opening for me, Tarek says.

Practical studies opened the doors to Finnish working life

Tarek Fahmy moved to Finland in autumn 2020 and quickly found a way into Finnish working life. Since October, he has worked as a leading service designer at Miltton, a consultancy firm. 

Laurea's practical way of studying has played a crucial role in getting to know Finnish working life.

- In a very short time after the beginning of my studies, I’d been able to build networks and a portfolio because we’d carried out projects with actual commissioners of working life such as Kesko, Tarek says. 

- In the first three months, I had completed two projects. It means two large Finnish brands and a total of eight student colleagues I got to know.