Board Year

For this edition of the Flowzine, we interviewed two students who are currently doing a board year at an association related to Tilburg University. One of them is Laura de Smit, who is doing a board year at the non-profit communication agency Kweek Communicatie. In this article, she tells you all about her experiences as a board member.

‘’Kweek Communicatie is a non-profit communication agency for students and run by students. Our goal is to offer students the opportunity to gain some practical experience related to their studies and to earn a nice amount of money while studying. Together with three other board members, we are always looking for companies who might have projects which our students can fulfill. These projects can be anything related to the communication field, such as writing and editing texts, translations, building websites, managing social media pages and designing posters and flyers.’’ Laura tells us.

‘’I am one of the two project managers, namely the project manager Language & Text. All projects run by Kweek are divided into either Web & Media or Language & Text. I make sure all projects in the Language & Text domain run smoothly from beginning to end. This means, among other things, that I maintain close contact with clients as well as students. In addition to function-related tasks, I also join weekly board meetings and organize workshops and company visits.’’ We asked her about the most exciting part of her board year: ‘’Personally I think it is very exciting that I am, together with three other students, responsible for keeping our own organisation going. We get to make choices that might have a big impact on the organisation. Also, I feel honoured that I get to share my passion with three other enthusiastic board members.’’

It can not all be sunshine right, what are the challenges she faces sometimes? ‘’For this question I’d like to refer to my previous answer. On the one hand it’s super exciting to be able to make your own choices within an organization, but on the other hand this can be a little scary. You have to learn to dare to make decisions which is sometimes challenging, but also very useful. Not only for today’s matters regarding Kweek, but also for my own future.’’

Laura would recommend everyone to do a board year at Kweek Communicatie. It is a great opportunity to gain experience in running a company and in having professional contact with other companies through networking activities. Kweek Communicatie has a board change every six months. If you have any questions about Kweek Communicatie or perhaps you are interested in a board position, feel free to send an email and find them on social media or visit their website!

Laura

Despina

The second person we interviewed was Despina. Despina is doing a board year at Serve the City Tilburg, a voluntary organization run by students.

‘’Our organization is controlled by student volunteers who are committed to contributing to the city’s wellbeing. We organize projects for the less fortunate of Tilburg. We have four main target groups: elderly, children with special needs, people without a home (e.g. homeless people, refugees, or women who have been abused) and people with disabilities or who are chronically ill. Each of our four committees is focused on one of these groups and are therefore called Serve the Grey, Serve the Kids, Serve the Homeless and Serve the Brave. Some examples of the activities we organize are weekly walks with the elderly, baking pancakes at Villa Pardoes, cooking and dining with refugees, the annual Sinterklaas party for children in poverty and an Etiquette Dinner.

As the Chair of the organization, I am the first point of contact for board members, the development coordinator and the Advisory Board. In addition, I lead and schedule board meetings and set the agenda. I also support committees where necessary and organize activities that do not fall within one of our four committees. All in all, a very wide and varied range of tasks, but therefore really nice to do! There are several reasons why I enjoy being a board member of Serve the City Tilburg. First of all, it is a part-time board year of 24 hours a week, so it does not immediately cause study delay. Secondly, you get to know a lot of new people and associations as we have contact with almost all study and student associations in Tilburg. Last but not least, you get a lot of appreciation from the target groups. By only doing small things you can make people’s day, even in times where most activities are cancelled due to COVID-19.

As a board member of Serve the City Tilburg, you work together with a lot of organizations such as student and study associations but also other voluntary organizations, care homes and hospitals. The communication with all these different organizations might be a little difficult and challenging sometimes, but this is a great learning point, too. You have to work punctually, say no sometimes and be open to each other. I would definitely recommend becoming a board member of Serve the City. You will definitely learn a lot!’’