Alissa Kotanen
Hello! My name is Alissa, and I’m a second year student in the Chemical Engineering program. I’m applying for the position of International and Master’s Captain.
I’m a very outgoing and sociable person and I love meeting new people. I became interested in the role of International and Master’s Captain through my position as the Chemical Engineering Officer of PT, where I helped organize many different kinds of events for the English-speaking community at Aalto. Through that role, I learned more about how to collaborate between guilds, and what goes into organizing a successful student event.
I was born and raised in Canada, so I know first hand what kinds of things can be confusing or unfamiliar to students coming from abroad. This makes it easier for me to relate to and guide our exchange students’ experience with Finnish student culture.
As International and Master’s Captain, my focus would be to keep growing the international community within PT. The previous boards have set an excellent momentum for improvement, and I want to build on that to create an even more inclusive and welcoming environment for our international students.
Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to have a chat!!
- How would you ensure the equality of Finnish- and English-speaking students in the activities of our guild?
To ensure equality between our Finnish- and English-speaking students, I would want to make sure that all events advertised as bilingual truly are so in practice. This would include things like confirming that all checkpoints at bilingual events have prepared Finnish and English instructions, as well as working with the host and hostess and songleading committee to make sure sitsits include English-speaking songleaders as well as songs in English. I believe that these kinds of small changes will have a big impact in helping everyone feel equally included in guild events because it will show the effort being put in to make sure everyone can participate in the same way.
- How could international students and English-speaking bachelor students be encouraged to participate in the activities of the association? In general, how would you encourage all members to participate in international activities?
In my opinion one of the best ways to promote the participation of our English-speaking bachelors students is through word of mouth. Knowing someone who can personally vouch that an event organized by a certain group has a welcoming environment for English speakers makes it much more likely for others to take a chance on an event run by the same people. Our international students also often face greater pressure to perform well academically, so ensuring that big events don’t line up with exam weeks would also make it more likely for them to participate. One way to increase general participation in international activities would be to advertise events more beyond just the international community, and to advertise in Finnish as well. In my experience, many Finns are aware of international events, but may feel that they would not be welcome in those spaces, and they don’t want to “intrude,” so advertising an event in Finnish as well would make it more clear that everyone is welcome.
- How would you make sure that cooperation with the three guilds’ captains works smoothly and effectively?
Smooth cooperation and collaboration requires smooth communication, so as International and Master’s Captain, I would want to have an initial meeting about what our expectations and goals are for inter-guild cooperation. I think that this kind of discussion would help make sure we are able to work as effectively as possible. I would also want to have reflections after major events to discuss what went well and where we can improve going forwards.
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