Hanna Alajõe, member of AEGEE-Tartu, is running for the position of Network Commissioner. She wants to take over the Nordic Stars, the AEGEEan asked her some questions about her candidature.
The AEGEEan: You’re running for the position of Network Commissioner, what is your motivation for this position?
Hanna: The simplest answer would be to say that when I started working as a SubCommie, I just fell in love with this position. I saw how important working with the network is and how motivating that can be. I have been quite active locally and I want to put my experience in use. I am just graduating from psychology, so communicating with people and trying to solve problems is exactly what I like to do. Besides that, I want to invest the free time I will have after finishing school for a good purpose. I know that being a NetCommie is not going to be an easy task, but I am sure the positive parts make up for the difficulties and I am confident this is the position for me.
You’ve been very active in your local, how do you think that can contribute to your position if you get elected?
I think it can contribute in multiple ways. First of all, being in the board has taught me a lot about being a team member and a team leader, that is a general necessity for the work of the Network Commission and for working with the SubCommies. Secondly, during the time I was a board member, AEGEE-Tartu grew a lot in size and is now much stronger than it was a few years ago. This was achieved through the hard work of all the board members and I believe that I can use that experience to help other locals to do the same. I feel like I have a better understanding of possible problems locals can face and that will definitely help me in communicating with the antennae. Lastly, I have been one of the main organizers of a Network Meeting and as organizing Network Meetings is a responsibility of a Network Commissioner, that experience will definitely be useful.
The locals that form the Nordic Stars are very separated from each other and certainly come from very different cultures, what do you think makes them special?
A lot of people may see this as a disadvantage, but it’s exactly the opposite! The Network Meetings, for example, are always very productive, because people from different backgrounds have different ideas that are extremely useful in the brainstorming process. The Nordic Stars feel a great connection to each other and all of them want to stay together distribution-wise. Even our president Paul Smits said after participating in the last Network Meeting of the Nordic Stars in Hamburg, that it was one of the best network meetings he has ever been to. As you may have heard – nordic people need their personal space – maybe that applies to antennae as well and explains why they’re spread apart? [she smiles]
It is mentioned in your program that you would like to strenghten the knowledge about the Action Agenda among the locals, do you have any ideas on how to implement that?
Speaking from my personal experience: when I joined the board, I didn’t even know what the Action Agenda is and what we are supposed to do with it. That’s the first part of the problem, we have to make sure the antennae actually understand and know about it and only then they can start implementing it. That is why proper knowledge transfer is very necessary and having a board manual is very useful. I think when the first part of the problem is solved the second part that is actually contributing to the Action Agenda will follow more easily. ACT has been doing a really good job and has provided us with guidelines and just recently came out with a video about it. I think proper explanations to locals, pushing them even more on this topic and working closely with ACT will show us some results.
The most important work of the Network Commission is to assist the antennae, but there’s also the internal work of the team (communication with other bodies, internal work, etc). How do you think you can contribute to improve this work?
I enjoy working in teams and I am really looking forward to this part of the work as well. Firstly because who wouldn’t want to work together with people who are enthusiastic about the same things as you?! And secondly, I think that the internal work of the Network Commission is also very necessary for the further development of AEGEE. One thing that I would like to work on, is implementing the new human resources strategy. I participated in a workshop about it during the Network Meeting in Sankt-Petersburg and saw how necessary it is for the locals and how much potential it has. There are also many proposals that the current NetCom team prepared, that will probably need some support with putting them in use when accepted.
Last but not least, can you tell us in a sentence why do you think you’re good for this position?
I would be perfect for this position as I am currently a SubCommie and already up to date with some of the locals, I’m very well-organized, get along with people easily, am a great team player and most importantly would love to take on this new challenge of being a NetCommie!
Written by Ruben Navarro, AEGEE-Tarragona