MEET SLEEP DANCE REPEAT

There are many reasons why I decided to do a board year. However, boosting my CV, for which a board year is often mentioned to be perfect, was actually not one of those. I wanted to take a break from studying, hoping that I would be more focused afterwards. I wanted to meet new people, outside my study econometrics, see and experience if we econometricians really are that ‘different’. I wanted to be fully responsible for something bigger than myself. I wanted to develop a strong opinion and be able to express this properly. I wanted to become more ambitious. I wanted to get to know my flaws. Sounds like a plan. Text by: Marieke Derks – Secretary 2019-2020

However, when you start your board year (as in my experience) the first few months are gone before you blink your eyes. Luckily, I immediately found out that being the secretary was a perfect fit for me. From the first moment onwards, I was fully committed and enjoyed everything at most. Even though you think you have a full summer to prepare, the start of the academic year should not have come one day earlier. The level of stress we had when we forgot to print our TUC tickets and found out during dinner at Happy Italy, where we already showed up late will never be forgotten. I could only hope it would become less chaotic from now on.. 

Soon already, my first committee meetings had taken place, our first committee dinner had happened, all the constitution drinks were attended and we could already be proud of some great events. Moreover, I do not think I skipped one night of partying (I slept all day during my weekends). Time management is key, which includes a planning for your laundry, as I encountered. Many times I questioned if I had washed my board shirt in time for the next event. I couldn’t be more proud then whilst wearing my board shirt during events. However, there was no time to think about all of this, just go with the flow.

 

But then Christmas Break came and we had two weeks of vacation. I realized that almost half of my board year was already done. This scared me, as I was enjoying it so much and I could not imagine that I would be ready to go studying again in half a year. Besides, even though I had had the best time ever so far, didn’t I want to learn something from this year?

 

The second half year started off even busier than the first and it seemed as if I would not have more time to focus on my learning goals. However, in the past months I got used to the pace and it was less hard to keep up with it now. I attended my first LED (the third time this year I got to wear my very expensive board suit), which is as awesome as everyone tells you, although it ended a little less awesome for me.. I will surely never forget my first LED. I also joined the Ski Trip and the Europe Trip, which both were amazing. I highly recommend to visit Ljubljana once. Knowing what we know now I cherish these memories even more, since only two weeks after, the pandemic came, which changed everything. Many events of my committees were canceled and so the working pace slowed down to almost nothing. No committee meetings, no events, working from home. It felt like all my plans were thrown away. I had no idea how the last few months of my board year were going to look like. The only benefit was that I suddenly had more than enough time. Time to think about all the things that I have experienced, to look back and see what I have learned.  

I took a break from studying, but I am still not sure if I will be more focussed next year. I got to know many new people, outside and inside EOR, for which I am very grateful. I have been responsible for the most amazing association and I improved in developing an opinion, but also realized it is okay to not have an opinion in everything and sure did I learn about my flaws.

I also learned that things won’t always go the way you want. No one had foreseen that this year would end during a pandemic. However, this made me realize even more how much I like to be with all the members of our association, and how wonderful it is what we have together. When I will look back at this board year, I will not think about all the things that I wanted to learn and have learned. I will remember the feeling of seeing everyone together singing during the COdE, I will remember the laughs I had during committee meetings and I will remember taking a lot of (ugly) pictures with everyone during the drinks at Patricia’s. I will remember the morning when suddenly a freshman walked in to have a chat about the night before and spontaneously stayed all day. I will remember the time I spend at the rooms of other Asset boardies, I will remember the karaoke night with our ‘OG’ members, I will remember the trip to Ljubljana and I will remember my fellow board members who became my ‘vriendengroep’. Those people is what made my board year an unforgettable and amazing board year.