For the first glance and encounter, Patricia Anthony (AEGEE-København) might seem a quiet Northern European, but those who have got to know her better – or even exchanged e-mails with her – know how passionate she is about the things she believes in. Our interview is also a proof to this, as Patricia could continue answering the questions for hours and hours. Go on and read the answers to some crucial questions we asked about her candidature for Network Commission (NetCom) in this Agora (full candidature can be found on the official website).
You are active in quite a lot of bodies of AEGEE… In case of being elected, will you still stay active in Sports Working Group (SWG), The AEGEEan and AEGEE-København?
I think that during the last year I have proved that I am able to be active in many different AEGEE bodies.
While juggling; being president of AEGEE-København and editor of European Events section in The AEGEEan, I managed to help build the new aegee.org with the Public Relations Committee (PRC), be AEGEE Fair manager twice, be Editor of Key 2 Europe and many more things.
Having said that, in case of being elected my involvement in AEGEE will of course change. In AEGEE-København we have elections in May. In SWG I will also become less active; I have done many tasks belonging to other positions in the board since the creation of the SWG in order to ensure that everything was done. I still have 4-5 months left in the Action Agenda Team (ACT), however as written in my candidature, I focus very much on the Action Agenda in my program so I see no obstacle in me being in ACT at the same time as in the NetCom.
There are many members in AEGEE who are involved in different bodies, in The AEGEEan itself we already have people in the Network Commission. Speaker Wieke van der Kroef is Editor of the European Events Section, journalist Andra Toma is a Network Commissioner and I myself am subcommissioner of Karolina Mazetyte.
I believe that I can stay active in the bodies I am involved with in AEGEE, however in case I will not be able to stay involved in all those things, I can assure you that I will find a solution on how to stay committed to the NetCom as much as needed.
And what about your commitments in the life out of AEGEE?
Other than my studies in sports management I don’t really have any other personal life commitments.
I am probably like any other young student. I spend time on my studies, I work at the merchandise store of the football team FC Copenhagen, and I spend time with my friends usually at home relaxing whenever there is time to. I have been given the nickname “party girl” on several trips but actually, going out is something that I do mostly when I am abroad.
Actually, I will be studying only until January 2014, so I plan to use the first six months of the upcoming year fully committed to AEGEE with a focus on NetCom trips. It might sound a bit crazy, but after being committed to study practically my whole life, I need six months off which is quite a normal thing to do in Denmark.
In your motivation letter you mention: “It still burdens me that the number of antennae in especially Scandinavia is so low, and that more antennae are closing instead of being created.” In Agora Rhein-Neckar one of your closest antennae, AEGEE-Lund, will be deleted. How do you feel about it?
Being a Network Commissioner (NetCommie) requires cooperation between team members and also between the locals. Karolina Mazetyte (the current NetCommie) and I have done everything we could in order to save AEGEE-Lund but unfortunately, it was not possible.
Not so long time ago, I wrote an article about it in The AEGEEan expressing that even though it will be deleted, I will continue trying to have AEGEE locals in Sweden. We have been working and will continue working on the cooperation between the antennae in the North in order to strengthen them and discover the needs they might have and that could be covered by other locals.
As in any other area in AEGEE it is difficult to find new active members in the North, and one of the things that I will work on in my term (if I am elected) is how to get new active members, and how to find members who are willing to take on the challenge of becoming a board member. In many locals, the case occurs that it is an active group of members/friends who work together and might even be in the board for many years which creates the dangerous situation that members might lose motivation and it can be difficult to find new board members which is why activity might die and might even be the reason for which locals close, since they cannot find anybody willing to continue the work as in the case of AEGEE-Lund.
Recently, there have been a lot of discussion regarding official regions. What is your opinion about it?
It is a very controversial topic that requires a lot of discussion. I think that having official regions can work as long as members on the European level ensure to avoid creating national levels.
As for the previous division, I believe that in the case of the Nordic antennae it should be changed. Having official regions would help strengthen the antennae in the North because it is an issue that the locals working together here differed many times during the last years. For this reason the antennae do not feel very closely connected, and it is Karolina’s and my desire to have antennae in the North grow stronger together in order to have Regional Training Courses, exchanges, and share best practices on HR, FR, PR and more topics.
However, I am concerned about the proposal that the regions are supposed to stay the same for three years which might be too long time. In general, I like the idea of regions, and I am very much in favor of having antennae nominate the person they would like to have as their NetCommie but I need to obtain more information on the matter in order to give a clear opinion on whether I am in favor or against the idea.
As we know, recently you announced your intention of resigning from the post of editor-in-chief and then, you decided to stay. How can we be sure that you will not resign from NetCom after the first problems?
I know that this is a concern that some may have, and I fully understand it. AEGEE has taught me many things and that week has probably been one of the biggest life lessons in AEGEE for me so far. It has taught me the value of team work, not to take decisions when I am emotionally overwhelmed, and to create more distance between personal feelings and work.
I never wanted to resign. As expressed on different platforms, I enjoy developing The AEGEEan so much and the reason for the announcement of me resigning was because I was emotionally overwhelmed and because I was trying to do damage-control in order to save the reputation of the magazine which I felt that I had damaged.
Such situations will most probably never occur again, and it is very unlikely that it will happen in NetCom. Just as any other former and current NetCommie, I will be there to serve and protect the locals and I won’t back down after the first problems.
Written by Anita Kalmane, AEGEE-Ogre