This is how lifelong friendships are formed – the University of Oulu brings students together

It feels like only a few years have passed since their university days. Martti Hekkanen, Matti Heiska, Jyrki Röpelinen and Matti Räinä burst into hearty laughter as they reminisce about their time as students. The men were construction engineering students in the class of 1975. In university circles, the class is also known as ‘Rillu’.

The class meets every five years, and friendships have remained strong over the decades.

“I found kindred spirits at university, and we formed a tight bond. Now I can see how my classmates became lifelong friends. We accept each other as we are, and everyone is treated as an equal,” says Jyrki Röpelinen.

Guild activities were important to students in the 1970s, as they are to this day. The foursome fondly recalls all the different sports they played, such as football and rinkball, in semi-serious inter-university tournaments. At the end of the 1970s, the name “Rillu”, which the class came up with, was also used by all the construction engineering student sports teams.

"I got a medal in the hospital. I was the goalkeeper, but during a tournament I was laid up at OYS hospital with some health problems, so I couldn’t make it to the match. But, the boys brought me a medal anyway, which is something I’ll never forget. That says everything about the team spirit we had,” says Martti Hekkanen with a smile.

Incidentally, Finnish musical artist Frederik’s song Kolmekymppinen (Thirty-year-old), which was about one’s glory days, was also released in 1980. It became the Rillu theme song.

Song evening Rattori-style

Speaking of songs, the only thing keeping you from going to a Rattori song evening back in the day would be a high fever. “Rattorilupi” was a famous live music club in Oulu operated by the University of Oulu engineering students in the 1970s and 1980s. Last autumn, the engineering students from the Environmental Engineering and Civil Engineering Guild (Ympäristörakentajakilta) were invited to celebrate with the Rillu team who held its Riemuteekkari banquet. This was the 50th anniversary of the Rillu class. The banquet programme was a Rattori-style song evening, brought back from a decades-long break, with its original song leaders and songbooks.

"Some of the songs were familiar. Yes, we still sing at out gatherings, but there are no more actual song evenings,” explains technology students Sara Parkkinen and Ville Siren, who attended the banquet. Parkkinen studies environmental engineering and Siren studies construction and civil engineering.

Some of the songs with new words were completely omitted.

"They wouldn't have been appropriate any more,” say the men in unison.

No one is left out

The experiences of two different generations of technology students, in Finnish also known also as “teekkarit”, seem to be much the same: classmates become close groups of friends. The spirit of technology students is strong in Oulu, and they traditionally host a lot of events. New students are brought into the fold right away in the autumn of their first year, with no one being left out - this is absolutely vital to technology students.

“We put on a variety of low-threshold events in the first few weeks of the school year. These might be outdoor games or other informal gatherings, and of course we go to bigger events all together to make sure no one is left out,” explains Ville Siren.

Siren recalls how he decided to change fields from class teacher studies to civil and construction engineering.

“I was on a train talking with an older expert, who told me that there was a massive shortage of people with Master’s degrees in civil and construction engineering. He made the infrastructure field sound so interesting. I spent the year thinking about changing my major, and completed my Bachelor's degree in teaching. The fact that there was also a much wider variety of employment prospects also affected my decision,” Siren explains.

The nature of the studies might be another reason for the close-knit relationships between technology students. Anne Tuomela, Director of the Degree Programme in Civil and Construction Engineering, is also a civil engineering alum and knows first-hand how demanding the studies are.

"You won’t necessarily be able to get through them entirely on your own. Working in a group, it’s easier to get a handle on assignments - indeed, many course assignments are group assignments.”

In other words, working together is also vital to technology students when it comes to studies. The students agree:

"The guild room is our gathering spot. There are always people there and you can ask for help with, for example, assignments. There are always people there and you can always get help. There are no class lines in guild activities,” says Sara Parkkinen.

In other words, in the guild room’s communal atmosphere, you can find help for dealing with a tricky problem or even a job.

“It’s not so uncommon for someone in the guild room to mention that there’s a place open on a particular project.”

Lack of money served as the impetus for an educational event for single-family home builders

The foursome recalls the trips they took to the Lapin Kulta brewery in Tornio and Budapest in the 1970s.

"Budapest was cheap - that's why we picked it. It was the first time I ever flew, as it was for many others,” Hekkanen recalls.

In coming up with ways to raise money for the trip, they also stumbled upon a great idea. They had to come up with the money to pay for a trip abroad, but how?

“At that time, there were no real educational or advisory services for single-family home builders in Oulu like there are today. We decided to hold weekend training days for single-family home builders, who were provided with instruction and guidance by experts. This was accompanied by a construction product exhibition, and we earned some income from the product representatives. When the following classes carried on with this tradition, they earned a tidy sum to pay for their trips,” recall the men with a laugh.

Student networks are far-reaching

Anne Tuomela is delighted to see how the friendships formed at university last, in some cases for a lifetime.

"Being a technology student doesn’t end at graduation - it’s always a part of you."

It is also particularly gratifying for the director of the degree programme that the technology students are satisfied with both their studies and their eventual careers. Students go on to do very important work when they graduate from the University of Oulu.

In doing such important work, they might need some advice. Alumni know from experience that student networks are far-reaching.

“Classmates later became an important network of experts, to whom you can turn for advice. My personal experience is that the competence of technology students at the University of Oulu was indeed valued, but you had to first prove your competence by outperforming your counterparts in southern Finland,” says Matti Heiska, who worked in a number of management positions in the construction sector during his career.

Original text (in Finnish): Kati Valjus
Photos: Mikko Törmänen

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