A board year at Asset | Accounting & Finance – Steven Stroo, Secretary

To be honest, I had some doubts when I was asked whether I was interested in a board year last November. After all, I only just got back from my exchange, and was ready to finish my master Accountancy and start working. After carefully considering all the pro’s and cons, I decided to extend my student life with one more year and go for it. A decision that I still do not regret.

From time to time I get the question: “What exactly is it that you do as a secretary all day?”, and actually it is quite hard to give a clear answer to this question. Officially, I am responsible for the incoming and outgoing communication, and to minute during meetings, but this accounts for only a really small part of my function, which consists of a wide spectrum of different tasks. The main part of my time, however, is spent on internal business of the association. I am, for instance, coordinator of the Accounting Insight committee, the Faces Online committee and the Alumni Committee. This takes up a lot of time during the week. Besides that, a lot of my tasks are not clear-cut, and I have a lot of freedom to help other board members when needed. The result of this is that I am closely involved in almost all different aspects of the association. For example, I am also Vice-treasurer and I have been to a lot of visits to our partners, together with one of our externals.

”You find yourself in new situations almost every day. When in these situations, most of the time it is important to think and act fast, but also to be critical in the same time.”

This variation in tasks is one of my favorite aspects that comes with my function. One moment I am coordinating an event, the next moment a mailing needs to be sent and after that I am on my way to a partner visit. Not a single day is the same. You find yourself in new situations almost every day. When in these situations, most of the time it is important to think and act fast, but also to be critical in the same time. In the beginning of my board year, this was quite a switch sometimes, but this teaches you to be flexible really quick.

I have also learned a lot from coordinating three committees. Every committee requires its own way of coordinating. One time, you really need to be on top of your committee, while the other time it is better to give them a little more latitude. Every situation asks for a different kind of approach. This was also something that took a while to get used to, but you get more comfortable with this in time. When you see committees performing well, committee members developing themselves and milestones being achieved, you cannot suppress a proud feeling.

Of course, not everything goes without a hitch. A board year is hard work, and often enough you face problems. For instance, especially in the beginning of my board year, I struggled a lot with our mass-mail program. When an important mailing needs to be sent before a specific deadline, this can cause quite a bit of stress. Furthermore, I felt bad for two full days after putting the wrong date on the invitation for our GMM and sending this to over 2000 people. But in the end, these things are just all part of it and you learn from your mistakes.

Finally, the good atmosphere at A&F plays a big role in my board year. An organization cannot function well when everyone is cantankerous and doesn’t feel at home. That why it really pleases me when I see that a lot of members join activities and drinks, get along with each other and also hang out with each other outside A&F. In the end, you put all the effort in your board year for the members and when they are happy, I can be happy too.

Concluding, I can recommend a board year to everyone. You get to know a lot of people really quick, you have experiences that you won’t forget for the rest of your life and you develop your soft skills and the ability to think critically really fast. Combine that with the professional and good atmosphere you get to work in and you have, in my eyes, an optimal mix. To everyone still doubting about a board year I would say: go for it!

If you want to know more about my board year after this article, visit room E1.07 and ask your questions during a cup of coffee!