Sameeksha Aggarwal – Secretary – 2022/2023
About me
My name is Sameeksha and I am originally from India but I have lived in Bangladesh and Oman. I am a third-year Double Degree Econometrics and Economics student. Traveling is my passion as well as meeting new people from all over the world. I love to cook and go out with my friends.
Why a board year?
I was not part of ESN last year but I knew ESN existed. I really like how international and diverse they were and as an international student, it was the best thing. I always look for extracurricular activities next to my studies so when I got to know that ESN is recruiting a board I thought, why not apply for it? I talked to some of the board members and felt welcomed by them immediately. I loved what they stood for and how they helped incoming students so I thought I could be a good addition to the board.
Function description
You are taking your organisational skills to a higher level whilst in the secretary role. Differently from other positions where you take intensive care of one specific task, being the secretary means you will be constantly multitasking between various projects in order to keep the information flowing. You are the first contact person of stakeholders trying to reach the organisation, so it is very important to know what to filter and to deliver the message to the right board or committee member. The secretary also takes notes of what’s important during the meetings, takes care of the office hours schedule, helps organising the office supplies, is in touch with international officers on campus to discuss practical matters and is also the one to organise internal events (such as Supervisory Board meetings, Alumni events, and board bonding). Last but not least, your most impactful task is being the coordinator for the Buddy Program which means you are responsible for recruiting and training the buddies, making sure all incoming students are being matched to a buddy and hosting events for the buddies and their students. You are also responsible for both the Introduction Days which happen in August and January.
Life after ESN // Emma Smit – Hamilton // First Board
The year as board member of ESN-Rotterdam gave me a taste of running an organization and working closely with team members. Besides these valuable insights it also gave me the opportunity to meet and work with new people – both students and staff – from all faculties at EUR. Being in the founding board, we mostly spent our time on setting up this new student organisation; while also trying to plan the first activities. Working with different personalities made this for quite some interesting yet challenging discussions; but an end result we were (are!) all incredibly proud of. My absolute highlight was the first Official Welcome in February 2009 – where we finally got to see all our planning and paperwork in action in the form of 300 super excited international students in CB-5! I can wholeheartedly recommend a board year, as it gives you a great opportunity to develop the practical skills required in your career. And on top of that – ESN-Rotterdam just has such a great variety of events, ranging from social to cultural, and sports with a group of students that is here to make the absolute most of their time in Rotterdam!