Odette Pitkänen

Hi!

I’m Odette, a second-year student majoring in Chemical Engineering and Processes. Being a Head Tutor (VastuuISO) really sparked my interest in taking on even more responsibility with our fuksis, and that’s exactly why I’m applying to become the Fuksi Captain!

It’s already been so amazing to work with the fuksis and see what a wonderful community of students we have and continue to build. I’d love to help create a first year that leaves everyone with great memories and makes every single person feel like they belong, just as they are. As Fuksi Captain, one of my biggest goals would be to make sure that no one ever has to go to lectures or events alone. Finding your own group of friends is important, but I think staying open to meeting new people throughout your university years is even more important.

Taking responsibility is nothing new to me, as I’ve previously worked as a shift manager. That experience has taught me a lot about organizational skills, problem-solving and working with all kinds of people. I’m super approachable and get excited easily about new things. Honestly, you can get me involved in pretty much anything if you just ask! Maybe that’s also why I’ve been so active in student life.

One of my biggest strengths is creativity. In my free time, I love sewing clothes, drawing and basically trying anything that lets me use my imagination. I absolutely love seeing even the smallest idea turn into something real. I’d love to bring that same excitement into fuksi activities through new ideas and shared experiences. I’m definitely never short of ideas, but I’m always just as excited to hear everyone else’s! I’m also a flexible and easygoing person who can get along with pretty much anyone.

I can’t promise that every single one of my ideas will be brilliant, but I can promise there will be plenty of them! Most importantly, I’d love to be the kind of Fuksi Captain who anyone can turn to about absolutely anything, and who makes sure there’s never a dull moment!

 

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

My biggest goal would definitely be that, a year and a half from now, as many fuksis as possible could look back and say they’ve met people during their studies who they still want to spend time with years down the line. I think it would be pretty amazing if someone’s future best friend, roommate or even partner turned out to be someone they first met at an event we organised.

I’d really want to help fuksis get to know all kinds of different people, instead of only sticking with their own tutor group or the friends they made during the first week. I think one of the coolest things about being a fuksi is suddenly being surrounded by so many new people you might never have met otherwise. It would be such a shame if all those potential friendships never happened just because people ended up in different groups during orientation week.

I’d love to create a fuksi year where getting to know people isn’t all about huge events or being the first person brave enough to shout their name during an icebreaker. I think some of the best memories happen unexpectedly, and you can’t necessarily plan them into an event schedule. That’s why I’d love to try different kinds of events, mix people outside their usual circles and leave room for fuksis’ own ideas too.

Besides friendships, I’d really want fuksis to feel like PT is their own guild and that teekkari culture is a part of their student life. I wouldn’t want traditions to be something people just memorise without understanding why they matter. Instead, I’d love for everyone to understand the meaning behind them and create their own memories along the way. I think it would be amazing if everyone could find their own way of being a teekkari without feeling like they have to fit into some specific mould.

I’d also love to encourage fuksis to have a say in what kind of activities we organise. It would be great if they didn’t just attend events planned by someone else, but realised that their own ideas actually matter. Maybe that could even spark an interest in becoming a tutor, an active guild member or a board member later on.

And even though becoming a Fuksi Captain is what originally made me want to apply, I’m genuinely excited about board work as a whole. I’d love to learn about the other roles, meet new people and get involved in things outside my own responsibilities too. It would be amazing to be part of a board where we can get excited about each other’s ideas and build something together that benefits the whole guild.

At the end of the day, I wouldn’t want the success of my time as Fuksi Captain to be measured only by attendance numbers or how many events we organised. Event programmes, schedules and decorations might eventually be forgotten, but the people you’ve laughed your heart out with can stay in your life for years. And if, a year and a half from now, someone says they found a lifelong friend at PT, I’d say that’s a pretty good reason to be proud.

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’ve always thought that making friends is a bit of an unfair game. For some people, it happens on the very first day of orientation, while others might still be wondering in November how on earth everyone else seems to know each other already.

That’s why I wouldn’t aim for everyone to have their own friend group sorted out by the end of orientation week. Instead, I’d want to focus on how we can make it easier for everyone to feel part of the community in their own way. That doesn’t necessarily mean attending the same events or being involved in exactly the same way.

I’d especially want to pay attention to the fuksis who don’t show up to many events or haven’t found their own group yet. I’d work closely with the tutors to make sure there are ways for them to join in that actually feel comfortable. If someone misses orientation week, for example, it would be important that they don’t have to figure everything out on their own afterwards or feel like they’re already behind everyone else.

I think we sometimes forget how intimidating it can feel to show up to an event where you don’t know anyone. Walking into a room with five friends is a pretty different experience from walking in alone and seeing everyone else already hanging out in their own groups. That’s why I’d want to work with the tutors and other fuksi organisers to make sure people arriving alone are welcomed and included in conversations. Sometimes just one person coming over to say hi can mean more than an entire evening packed with activities.

I’d also want event information to be as clear as possible beforehand. If you don’t know anyone and you’re not even sure what’s going to happen at an event, joining can suddenly feel like a pretty big step. Nobody should have to do detective work just to figure out whether they can show up alone or if they’re supposed to bring something.

At the same time, it’s important to remember that not everyone has the time or the desire to be constantly involved. Students have different situations, interests and energy levels, and nobody’s place in the community should depend on how full their event calendar is.

To me, an amazing community isn’t one where everyone attends every single event. It’s one where you can show up after a three-month break and still get a warm welcome, even from people you only sort of know.

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

Over 200 fuksis sounds both absolutely amazing and like a bit of a logistical nightmare to me. That’s 200 new personalities, 200 different beginnings to student life and probably at least 200 questions whose answers are already somewhere in a Telegram group. If only finding anything in that endless flood of messages were that easy!

I think one of the biggest risks with such a large group is ending up planning everything around some imaginary “ideal fuksi”. You know, the one who attends every event, reads every message, loves icebreakers and somehow always remembers to sign up for everything on time. Not many people actually fit that description. And if someone like that does exist, I’d genuinely love to hear their time-management tips.

In reality, everyone has different interests, schedules and needs. That’s why I’d want to make sure there are different ways to participate and that communication is as clear as possible. Keeping up with everything shouldn’t require monitoring Telegram as closely as a lab experiment where you’ve already messed up the very first step.

For example, I’d love to ask fuksis at the beginning of autumn what kinds of activities they’re interested in and what might make participating difficult for them. We could then actually use their answers when planning events instead of the two of us trying to guess what over 200 people might enjoy. This is also where working closely with tutors, the Head Tutor and other fuksi organisers would be especially important. There’s simply no way two Fuksi Captains could know everything going on in the lives of over 200 people.

But the most exciting part of having so many fuksis is the huge variety of people who get the chance to meet each other and find their own group of friends. The kind of friends who might stay in their lives forever. And not everyone needs to know everyone! Trying to organise one hangout for over 200 people would probably be impossible anyway. Instead, such a big group is bound to include people with all kinds of wonderfully specific shared interests. I’d love to help those people find each other through smaller activities too.

Another amazing opportunity is the number of great personalities we could get involved in guild activities. Among those 200 people, there are definitely future event organisers, performers and people with talents we don’t even know about yet.

One idea I’d love to try is a fuksi idea bank, where people could suggest anything from small hangouts to slightly crazier event ideas. We could then choose some of those ideas together and let fuksis take part in making them happen. New friendships could form even halfway through the year while people work on something new together. It would be pretty cool if someone could look back after their first year and say, “Hey, that was actually my idea!”

I’d love for us to see a large group of fuksis not just as 200 people we need to entertain, but as a group of people who can come up with and create something completely new themselves.

And if even one person out of those 200 finds a friend they’ll still be laughing with after graduation, I’d say that’s already something pretty special.

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

I’ve been thinking that maybe one of the biggest things stopping Finnish- and English-speaking fuksis from getting to know each other isn’t actually language skills, but the fact that both sides might be waiting for the other to make the first move.

Speaking a foreign language doesn’t come naturally to everyone. I can definitely relate to that, because speaking English honestly scared me quite a lot at the beginning of my own fuksi year. Sometimes I’d have a perfectly sensible sentence in my head, but the second I tried saying it out loud, it turned into complete nonsense. Little by little, though, I became more confident and eventually got to know some of the international fuksis towards the end of the year. Looking back, the only thing I really regret is not having the courage to do it sooner.

That’s why I wouldn’t want building a shared community to be left entirely up to English-speaking fuksis. Finnish-speaking students should also be encouraged to reach out, even if they don’t feel completely confident in their English.

One of my main goals would be to organise activities where language isn’t the main focus. I’d love to get fuksis excited about doing things together and taking part in creative projects, like designing a fuksi overall patch or organising an event together. These kinds of activities could help people get to know each other without everything depending on how fluently someone speaks English. People interested in the same project or event could naturally get to know each other while working on something together, regardless of which language they speak.

I also think it’s important to remember that bringing language groups together doesn’t just mean inviting both groups to the same event. If everyone automatically ends up hanging out with the people they already know, not much has really changed. Shared activities should be planned in a way that actually encourages people to meet each other.

Another thing I’d want to pay attention to is how we introduce teekkari traditions. Simply translating the lyrics of a song doesn’t necessarily explain why we sing it or what makes the tradition fun in the first place. I’d want everyone to have the chance to understand the meaning behind our traditions instead of just watching from the sidelines.

I’d love to work closely with the International Captain and tutors, and especially listen to the experiences of English-speaking fuksis themselves.
And when it comes to speaking English, I really believe that even a slightly awkward conversation starter is better than the perfect sentence you never dare to say out loud.

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?

My ideal partner would definitely be someone I could start planning pretty much any event with, only to realise a little while later that we’ve somehow come up with a whole bunch of ideas and now have absolutely no idea which one to choose. And the best part? We’d both be equally excited about all of them! Although it would probably be quite useful if at least one of us remembered to check the time and the calendar every now and then.

The most important thing for me wouldn’t be agreeing on everything or even being similar as people. Quite the opposite! I’d love to work with someone who brings completely new perspectives to the table and makes me see things differently too. If one of us comes up with an idea and the other makes it even better, I’d say that’s a pretty great start to working together.

I’d want us to inspire and challenge each other in a positive way. Both of us should feel comfortable sharing our opinions, even when that opinion is, “Okay, that’s actually an amazing idea, but remember, we do have a budget!”

I’d also want to make sure we both get to use our strengths and try new things. To me, dividing responsibilities shouldn’t just mean splitting every task in half. It should mean that we both feel like we have a say in things and get to work on something that genuinely matters to us.
I’d keep our partnership strong through open communication, shared goals and remembering to celebrate our successes every now and then. I’d want us to give each other feedback, encourage each other and actually say it out loud when the other person has done something amazing. Open communication builds trust in this relationship too. 😉 And if something doesn’t go according to plan, we could first figure out a solution together and only afterwards laugh about how on earth we ended up in that situation.

It would also be important to me to get to know my partner outside all the planning and organising. I’d love for us to have the kind of connection where we can bounce around the wildest ideas imaginable, but also simply ask each other how our day has been. And where asking for help feels completely normal, without making a big deal out of it.

I’m the kind of partner you can safely disagree with, easily ask for help and always have fun celebrating successes with. As a bonus, my partner would get to hear my best jokes every single day. 🙂

Maybe the best thing of all would be that, by the end of it, we’d not only have helped create an amazing year for the fuksis, but also made so many memories and inside jokes together that nobody else would understand half of what we’re talking about anymore.

Looking forward to your questions! 😛