Hi pretty people,
As the secretary, I am next in line for the blog post so sit back and enjoy!
Starting from the beginning of my journey, choosing to be Board was, for me, a very difficult decision. I had a lot of going back and forth and talking to a bunch of different people for about three months. Even when I went to my interview, I still wasn't sure. When I got the call back I had to say that I needed time to think about it (even though I had thought about it for three months) but as soon as I hung up the phone, I could just feel that saying yes and becoming Candidate Candidate Board was the right decision for me. Being completely honest, I was terrified, but I haven't regretted my decision yet.
A bunch of my indecisiveness and uncertainty around being Board stemmed from my wish to still do my full time studies and keep my mental health intact. However, I can proudly tell May 2025 Seliina that all is well. I am managing Board, studying, and working while keeping my mental health relatively in check. Not to fool you, there are ups and downs in every Board year, but mine has, so far, primarily been filled with ups.
In my Board year I have met so many people, many of whom I wouldn't have met if I was not doing Board. I've also gotten to see more parts of the Netherlands, which has been very fun as an international in the Board. I'm from Denmark and before my Board year, I hadn't done much exploring, but now I've seen so much more in the past six months than I've seen in the entire first academic year of my studies. It's been a blast getting to organize events, going to other associations' events, and going to CoBos. There are plenty of meetings but one of my favorite parts of the week is our weekly Board meeting. In general, you just learn A LOT during a Board year. Everything from organizing events to communicating, setting boundaries, and learning to manage your time to believing in your own capabilities. I have definitely felt less imposter syndrome in general since starting my Board year and I can't wait to see how much and what I will learn in the coming six months.
As secretary, most of your function specific work happens within the Board Meetings, General Board Meetings, and General Meetings. Your main job as secretary is to transcribe the meetings, which can be as fun as you make it. I love transcribing our inside jokes and banters, and it makes it more fun for our advisory board (RvA) to read the transcripts after. When it comes to the General Board Meetings and General Meetings, you also have to check them through afterwards, make sure that there are no spelling errors (it happens anyway at times, whoops), and make them housestyle which is a love/hate relationship. However, as secretary you also label all the incoming emails, you answer emails, you keep track of the membership file, you make the year schedule in the beginning of the year (and update it as the year goes along), you make room reservations, and you make almanak texts (yearbook texts) for our brother and sister associations.
However, I of course also have the Board tasks that everyone else has too such as having room shifts and committee meetings. This year, I have three committees which are the Actie, LEX, and ReisCie, all of which I thoroughly enjoy to “supervise”. This year, I also chair the LEX which has been another learning experience that has turned out a lot better than I could have hoped.
To wrap it up, I love being Board and I love the people I get to be Board with. I couldn't have asked for anything better! I know for a fact that this year is one of the years I will look back on when I'm older and just be proud of doing it as well as have a lot of memories from it! If you have any questions about being Secretary of the Board or just my life, feel free to send me a text or come up to me (I can almost always be found in the VSPVU room).
Until next time!
Love,
Seliina
Secretary of the 79th Board