By Pauliene van Eldik
Can you briefly introduce yourself, and what position are you running for?
I am Bram van Overdijk, a 20-year-old second-year student from Tilburg, the Netherlands. I am running for the position of RASA Chair.
Why are you running?
RASA has given me so much, I want to return my service to the community and give students at UCR the best three years possible!
Why are you running for this position specifically?
I think I am fit for the position of chair because having oversight, being flexible and helping out wherever necessary are qualities that describe me well. I want to be an involved chair, encouraging communication between CAO’s and societies, with the ultimate goal to create a connected, closer and more involved RASA community. With my broad experience as a RASA-member, I think I am fit for this role. Amongst other things, I am director of THEATRA, treasurer of the Roosevelt Open team and member of the UCSRN policy task force. And I actually really enjoy going to GA’s, to voice my opinion for the potential benefit of the RASA community.
How would you encourage students to participate in events and improve commitment to societies?
I think the best way to do this is through infecting the first-years with the RASA spirit in the best way possible during IntRoweek. With my board and all the parents, I would try to show them what a great community RASA is and how valuable it can be to student life in order to make sure they will become involved as well.
What are your other plans?
Next to increasing student involvement, I have two other points of focus. Firstly, I want to strengthen and improve current events, without increasing the number of events and societies. I want to rethink the current structure applied by RASA, including the RASA calendar, and I’m not afraid to implement possible changes in order to improve. Secondly, I want to increase the bond between RASA and Elliott to make sure these two essential parts of our community are on the same page.
In general, I want to be transparent. In my opinion, RASA is a window between the students and the UCR management, a role that can only be successfully fulfilled when enough transparency is provided to the students.
What would be a fun new event you would love to introduce in Introweek?
Nothing comes to mind right now, to be honest. With my experience as a student and a parent, I think IntRoweek is a really great experience as it is right now. For me, the most important thing is to transfer the RASA spirit to the new students.
Pauliene van Eldik, Class of 2016, is a Linguistics and Literature major from Varsseveld, the Netherlands
