By Gerjanne Hoek
Tessa Elfrink is a 20-year old second semester student from Brugge, and she is running for a position as one of RASA’s Committee Affairs Officers.
Why are you running, Tessa?
I am very passionate about the RASA community, and I want to be more than just an active member, I want to organize events and help to build up an even better community. RASA appeals to me the most in that sense, because it covers everything!
Why are you running for this position specifically?
I’ve wanted to run for RASA from the start, but a position that would require an additional semester was not a possibility for me. I also believe that the position of CAO fits my personality best: I am someone who likes to have an overview of ideas that people are working (or struggling) with. I can adapt to different conversations, and I want to help out when societies need a new perspective.
How would you encourage students to participate in events and improve commitment to societies?
I think the main concern here could be the promotion of events. How well are people actually aware of all the things that a society organizes? Facebook promotion, talking about activities with friends, personal invitations for people that have attended an event before. We need to find a way to keep the contact going, only then people can start to feel connected and committed to a society.
Do you have any plans for certain improvements you want to carry out as a CAO? If I were to become a CAO, one of my main goals would be to stay both very approachable and involved, but also to leave enough professional space for the chair and board members to lead in their own positions. Also I think that it would be a fun idea for as many societies as possible to organize at least one big event in the semester that is open to the whole community. A more general event that allows for people to get to know the society a bit, but also has a low threshold for all RASA Vikings to participate in!
Lastly, what would be a fun new event you would love to introduce in Introweek? If we could, I would love to organize a big game through the city. Imagine something like Conquer the Flag, spread over all Campus locations. People would get to know the city and the locations, and it would be so much fun for teambuilding and competition.
Gerjanne Hoek, Class of 2018, is a Politics, History and Linguistics major from Bunschoten-Spakenburg, the Netherlands.
