Noora Hannula

Hi! I’m Noora, a 3rd-year student majoring in Chemical Engineering and Processing. By nature, I’m a cheerful, social, and proactive person. For this reason, I’ve decided to apply for the position of fuksi captain!

My interest in the position of fuksi captain began already during my first year of studies. My freshman year was an unforgettable experience for me: I got to learn about the student culture, meet new people, and find my own place in the community. I realized back then how unique the teekkari culture in Otaniemi is. During my second year of studies, this feeling only grew stronger as I got to see and learn more. Now, I feel that I want to show new fuksis all the wonderful things I have experienced myself, and through my own actions, enable the best, most inspiring, and smoothest possible start to their studies.

As fuksi captain, I’d like to be an easily approachable “big sister” to the fuksis. I want everyone to have a low threshold to ask about things on their mind or come talk about both happy matters and things weighing on their minds. I want to create diverse events so that everyone can find a pleasant way to get to know the guild and people. I would also like to inspire fuksis to boldly try new things and explore all the opportunities available.

During my studies, I’ve been in lots of different volunteer roles. This current year, I have acted as the hostess of the guild of materials and metallurgy students. Through this role, I’ve learned a lot about organizing and marketing events, working in a pair, the operations of gathering committees, and bearing responsibility. In addition, during my studies, I’ve served PT as an abi master, guild godparent, and assistant IE, among other things.  Through these tasks, I’ve had the opportunity to see guild operations from many different perspectives and gained valuable experience in meeting different people.

If you were Fuksi Captain, what would be your goal for the next 1.5 years? 

My main goal as a fuksi captain would be to be genuinely present for the fuksis and ensure they get the best, safest, and most inspiring start to their studies. Reaching this big goal would require achieving a few smaller sub-goals along the way.

First, I want to organize different kinds of events that excite as many people as possible. It’s important that alongside traditional events, there are also activities where every fuksi feels they can be themselves, find great company, and get to know others without any pressure. I’d love to be a support for the fuksis and help build a fuksi year that truly reflects them which also includes making sure they stay well-informed about all the info that comes their way, as there’s definitely a lot of it during the fuksi year.

Since the role lasts for 1.5 years, my goal would also be to really bond with my fuksi captain partner. I hope we can create a year together that feels like us and that we both can enjoy. In the best-case scenario, you get not only a great working partner but also a friend with whom doing the work is super fun and not overly boring. On top of this, I’d like to build good relationships with the rest of the board and other members of FTMK, as close cooperation goes a long way.

Students who do not feel that they belong to a community or have friendships with their fellow students at the beginning of their studies often lag behind in their studies. How do you manage to integrate all fuksis into a community or help them to find their own group of friends? 

I think this is a tricky and important issue to keep in mind. I’d start improving the situation by creating low-threshold events where it’s easy to show up even without a pre-existing group of friends, and that don’t immediately require a super outgoing personality.

The idea would be to offer a wide variety of activities so everyone can find something that interests them like playing board games, going out to kick a ball around, or doing something similar where you get to know people naturally and without even noticing it. It’s also super important that these events are organized throughout the autumn and even into the spring. That way, fuksis still have the chance to find new friends and their own friend group, even if things don’t click right away during orientation week. I strongly believe that with active involvement and genuine presence from both fuksi captains and ISOs, we can significantly reduce the feeling of loneliness or being left out among fuksis.

PT has over 200 fuksis starting each year. What challenges and opportunities do you see this bringing to PT’s fuksi education? 

Let’s start with the opportunities, because I definitely prefer positivity! A group of over 200 fuksis means there’s a ton of potential. Having such a large number of fuksis makes it possible for everyone to find new friends who share similar interests as them. It also gives us the opportunity to organize a wide variety of events, as there is going to be participants for different types of activities. Plus, every new fuksik brings fresh ideas and new energy, which is super important for the guild’s operations and future!!

Of course, a large number also brings its own challenges. The biggest challenge is how to meet each fuksi in the way they need, both as a fuksi captain and together with the ISOs. When there are a lot of people, giving individual support is difficult. Another clear challenge is organizing large-scale events. When attendance numbers are big, there are tons of moving parts, which requires a lot of planning.

How would you promote equality between Finnish- and English-speaking bachelor fuksis?

In my opinion, the most important thing would be to make sure that communication and events are always produced in English too. That way, English-speaking students actually have the same opportunities to stay in the loop with info and participate in events as Finnish-speaking students do.

In addition, we could try to create more interactions between Finnish- and English-speaking fuksis at events so that the threshold and the gap between the groups doesn’t grow too large. I might not know all the best ways to do this just yet, but I believe that regular check-ins with Chem Eng ISOs, for example, would really help us understand the actual needs of English-speaking fuksis and figure out where we could improve.

Being Fuksi Captain is teamwork. What kind of partner would you like for yourself and what kind of partner would you be? How would you maintain a good atmosphere and working habits with your partner?

I’d hope to get a motivated and enthusiastic person as my partner, someone with whom I can brainstorm ideas with a low threshold and boldly try out new kinds of things. As a partner, I myself would be proactive, social, and reliable.

In my opinion, the most important foundation of a good team dynamic is open and honest communication. During a long term, tough situations will inevitably pop up, so you need to be able to talk to each other easily even when something is weighing on your mind, bothering you, or feeling a bit too overwhelming. When both know they can trust each other and speak directly, doing the work stays fun and rewarding throughout the whole 1.5 years.