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ESTIEM Insights | Into 2025 w/ The Board
62 Plays6 months ago
In this episode of ESTIEM Podcast, as we are past the halfway mark of this mandate of the board, we will get a deep dive on what the board has accomplished so far and how life as a boardie is!
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Transcript
Introduction to Esteem Podcast and Board Members
00:00:19
Speaker
Hello people from IEM World and welcome to another exciting episode of the Esteem podcast. I'm Umut, your host, and today I'm interviewing the board members of Esteem, the European students of Industrial Engineering and Management.
00:00:32
Speaker
Joining us today are the 35th board of Esteem. Why don't you introduce yourselves? Let's start with Rob. Surely. So, hi, I'm Rob. I'm the vice president of public relations.
00:00:45
Speaker
So I take care of anything like ah related to the teams for our social media account or the contacts of other NGOs. and And I'm from the wonderful local group of Berlin.
00:00:57
Speaker
And I can actually directly throw the ball to Lucia. Hi, my name is Lucia. I'm from local group Zagreb. And this year I'm the vice president of administration, which means I do a lot of nerd work, which includes a lot of IT and internal communication.
00:01:14
Speaker
And also people quite frequently call me a CM responsible, which is to be quite fair, true. ah Let's go to Adrian. Hey, my name is Adrian. I'm from local Brussels, and my position is vice president of finance.
00:01:32
Speaker
I mainly take care of fundraising, ah bookkeeping, and also everything related to finance. um And I will throw the ball to Milutin. Hello, I am Ilutin.
00:01:44
Speaker
I am the president, um and ah which is a position also sometimes referred to as VP of VPs. ah I take care of and the board, the alumni, the members, and many other smaller things, as well as the general assembly agenda.
00:02:02
Speaker
ah I am from a lovely local group of Belgrade. I will now throw the ball to Hannes. Thank you. Hi, happy to be here. I'm Hannes. I'm the vice president of activities.
00:02:16
Speaker
That means ultimately I'm responsible for all the fun events that are happening in this network, talking to the local groups that organize them, our team members in central esteem that support them and anything between that.
00:02:30
Speaker
And I am from local group Darmstadt in Germany, and I will throw the ball to our last board member, Fran. Hello everyone, I'm Fran Lopez from LG Cartagena, the best country of Europe in Spain. and I'm this year the vice president of education.
00:02:52
Speaker
That sounds like ah I'm teaching, but no, I'm in responsible for the contact with the professors and universities attending conferences around Europe and also in chair of all the academic events and their contact in STEM.
00:03:09
Speaker
All right, perfect.
New Year's Eve Celebrations
00:03:10
Speaker
Now that we've settled the introductions, I want to ask lightly by asking you guys, how did you each get to celebrate New Year's? And maybe some of you even were together. Let's ask that if any of you were.
00:03:24
Speaker
Well, actually, Umut, funny thing you mention it because Adriana, Hannes and I actually spent our New Year's Eve together. ah We decided to go in support of the Northwest region, which I'm a very proud board responsible of. ah We went to their New Year's Eve ah party. It was an Exodus 4-1 concept and we had an awesome time. So ah local group Padawoon really did us proud.
00:03:53
Speaker
Indeed, if I can add on this, it was a very interesting event. It was a mix between, um i would say, like a Belgian Dutch cantis and like a Finnish tzitzit. Definitely something interesting in that you should attend if you have the opportunity to.
00:04:09
Speaker
Yeah, I have not much to add, but I was also there because I'm actually living the closest to Paderborn, even though I'm neither board responsible nor in the northwest region. But how about the others?
00:04:23
Speaker
Let's start with Rob, what did you do for New Year's? ah Sure, so i actually had a pretty cozy New Year. spent it with some non-esteem friends. Yes, that still exists sometimes.
00:04:35
Speaker
And we had to very nice yeah apartment party. We ate some raclette together and then had a living room karaoke session. Very, very cozy.
00:04:47
Speaker
Maybe I can throw the ball to Fran. or in my case, this New Year Eve, I was at my hometown, something really special during the board year.
00:04:58
Speaker
So I could be with all friends and also with my family, but ah the rest of the people just having fun with close, close friends.
00:05:09
Speaker
But think the last one, Milutin, had something special to say during his New Year Eve. Well, it was definitely an unusual New Year's Eve, something that I would have never expected.
00:05:23
Speaker
ah We had ah big gathering of thousands of university students and we went to um to the square called the Student Square, where most of our higher education schools are.
00:05:39
Speaker
And we welcomed the New Year in complete silence. And that was, no one even moved at midnight. I saw a few people hug, but for the 15 minutes around midnight, complete dead silence. We could only hear in distant background some fireworks.
00:05:56
Speaker
And it was also very foggy, so you could barely see anything in the front of you as well. Very surreal and unusual experience. I loved it. Yeah, definitely.
00:06:07
Speaker
I could say that's not a usual way to celebrate New Year's. And for me, it was just in a bar, friends and family, counting down with random people, you know. If you are done with 2025, then I want to ask you guys, because bored isn't always about celebrating New Year's, having fun, but you're also doing
Achievements in Restructuring and Policy Changes
00:06:28
Speaker
hard work. Can you each give me one thing that you're proud of having done since your mandate started?
00:06:33
Speaker
Let's go with Hannes. Sure. um For the people that are a bit more involved in what's going on esteem, you might have heard about all the departments and flash station going on.
00:06:44
Speaker
And, uh, I'm mostly responsible for that, and spend a lot of time working on there. It's about making sure the service teams that organize the different event concepts focus on that and get supported by all of other esteem on their mission and We did some first steps there. Of course, the whole thing is not finished, but already with those first steps and the first ah sessions we had, I'm quite happy with what was achieved so far.
00:07:11
Speaker
And I'm also looking forward to how it will turn out in the next few months and hopefully even after our mandate. Anyone else having any great achievements so far? How about you Lucia?
00:07:28
Speaker
Yeah, thanks, Hannes, and a good job on the work you already ah did. And yeah, when it comes to stuff I'm doing, i have to say there were a lot of great moments in 2024 and already some small ones in 2025, which I really hope keep on coming.
00:07:48
Speaker
ah But it's difficult to pick one. from the projects that we're doing, especially since many of them are with separate entities that I'm responsible for.
00:07:59
Speaker
ah There has been some changes with Ilium, with how we recruit and retain team members, some topical strategies as well. um a lot of plans for changes to the privacy policy and the member sphere, administration sphere,
00:08:16
Speaker
A lot of stuff also kind of dealing with three CMs ah has been has been quite a lot, but the all of that is, all of it kind of pays off when when I see ah my leaders and their team members doing a great job and being more confident with each month.
00:08:38
Speaker
I know it maybe sounds cheesy, but without them, none of us what would would be able to do as much. So I have to say having the leaders or as I call them, my little super nerds, I think that's that's kind of the highlight of of my year so far.
00:08:56
Speaker
Of course, it would be even cheesier to say my board, which is also very, very true. But the yeah, as for the work part and in my area, I have to say leaders, but the not they these kind of, you know, five people also help.
00:09:11
Speaker
Yeah, I see you're giving some love to us leaders as well. Yes, yes, definitely. I think in general, we i think we can all agree that this year we have a very good set of leaders.
00:09:24
Speaker
And the thank you, Umut, for doing an amazing job. And thanks. Thank you every single leader that will hopefully listen to this episode.
Major Achievements and Event Organization
00:09:33
Speaker
But yeah, I don't know. What what does Fran think?
00:09:36
Speaker
what the What has been a highlight this year? Before we get to that, I actually saw when I looked at my mail, you also worked on finding a host for the 71st council meeting and you actually made it possible.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yes, that was that was the funny thing about the three CMs this year. It was ah Seville, which which was ah you know ah roller coaster, but ah one that I'm that i'm quite the ah fond of and and ah and grateful to have lived.
00:10:08
Speaker
ah Calabria, which is approaching, you know stay tuned. And the yeah, finding a council meeting, ah organizing a local group for the council meeting number 71 has been a process.
00:10:21
Speaker
ah There have been some... um like ah feedback and messages from the network about whether we're doing anything ah regarding that question.
00:10:32
Speaker
But it is a slow burning process. It wouldn't make sense to to fully push a local group, any local group to to take such a big step. So we're very happy that Nish, you know, ah is confident and prepared this time around. And we congratulate them and we wish them so much luck.
00:10:51
Speaker
yeah I would like to add about Local Group needs that they are our newest and member of Steam. So it's impressive that the first event that they do as member of Steam is a Council meeting.
00:11:03
Speaker
um About what they did, um I'm feeling very proud of, is very simple, but the development of IAM. in Europe through some events.
00:11:15
Speaker
First of all, we had the opportunity to organize the first for the first time the circular economy course in Data in Istanbul, Bugadici.
00:11:28
Speaker
ah Both events and services where work they worked on that during the last years. And finally, we had two events in October and we are trying to have more events in this year in 2025.
00:11:43
Speaker
And also, of course, I'm very proud and very satisfied that this team was represented out of Europe. I attended one conference, World Engineering for Education Forum in Sydney.
00:11:56
Speaker
and We'll probably have more news about this organization and this partnership in the ah future. um Also, I attended more events and conferences with the board and it seemed to represented very good in the academic side with professors.
00:12:15
Speaker
So yeah, I'm very good and happy with all of this. And I'll throw the ball to Adrian because he founded all my ah travels. So yeah, please tell what you have done.
00:12:32
Speaker
Well, thank you. Thank you. um It is actually a very tough question. and I have several things coming to my mind. I would say, as Lucia previously mentioned, definitely the work of my leader that has been like quite impressive from like the the restructure of CRC and the brand new CRC committee we have to the old eagerness that the grants committee is putting.
00:12:57
Speaker
ah But I would say that I'm still... very proud of like creating the budget of the association. This is like a very big and tough work, but very, very interesting.
00:13:09
Speaker
And also investing in our network, because this is also definitely something that is very important for me. And I'm very proud of seeing all those events taking place and sometimes actually giving us results. So that's very nice.
00:13:24
Speaker
and And yeah, I'm i'm very proud of also of all the old leaders and it's It is for sure a very interesting year. um I think I will throw the ball to Milutin.
00:13:39
Speaker
oh If I may, ah to take this question on from a different standpoint, there's been ah many highlights of of the mandate and of 2024.
00:13:54
Speaker
ah But ah one thing that often pops up into my mind is, you know, when you find yourself and that situation when there's something small, but it's bugging you and stressing you out so much, and then you fix it, and then you feel so proud about it.
00:14:09
Speaker
This is not one big achievement, but it's something that I'd like to share here, maybe as a more cheerful thing, and that is the um GA Agenda spreadsheet, ah which was just a mess and always just an edit of the previous one, and I took some time when preparing the CM Sevilla one to clean that up, to um to a bit standardize the procedure of making it, to make a new template so that it's both more readable and easier for the next generations of presidents and everyone else who's going to read those.
00:14:44
Speaker
um There's still a little bit of tweaking left to do, ah but that is one you know small detail that whenever I think of it, puts a ah smile on my face.
00:14:57
Speaker
um That's my little piece of cake to share. But I think we have Rob left. What was your heart rate? Surely, i can also share maybe also like maybe something similar where it's mostly like ah it was a very, very happy moment, but I am still like very proud of or such proud of my leader involved, which was for the first printed SD magazine since over a year.
00:15:21
Speaker
ah Very happy about that. Of course, there as well, it couldn't have happened without the work of the involved leader, but also of the past VBPR who has still like put a lot of efforts to now make it happen.
00:15:33
Speaker
ah In any way, it was a very, very amazing moment. Finally being in GA and there was some stress when exactly it would be delivered, but then actually sitting on the on the desk and getting the message from the organizers, oh, the box is here. We can now start giving them out and seeing people read through them i was ah and yeah be excited about it was, I think, very much one of my highlights from the past council meeting. Yeah.
00:15:56
Speaker
i'm yeah I think that would be on my part. But I mean, if I wouldn't have all the moments that that that that i add i I liked in the last year, I think we would still sit here until midnight.
00:16:10
Speaker
I would agree. If we had to sit here and listen to what the board does, what the board works on, How many travels have board done? How many hours they invested? We can just stay and listen and listen.
00:16:24
Speaker
We obviously try to be in a time limit, so we cannot do that.
Stress Management and Well-being
00:16:28
Speaker
But let's go to the next question. May I ask, how does being in the board influence your mental load, and especially how do you cope with all the stress of being a boardie?
00:16:38
Speaker
Let's start by Milutin. Oof. it's a it's ah It's a tough one, indeed. But her it's being on the board is stressful, but it's very rewarding.
00:16:53
Speaker
know el Especially working with the ah five people with which you bond quickly, but also very strongly over time.
00:17:04
Speaker
And ah working with these five people has been has been a God bless. ah it is I do believe that in order to, ah when you're apart from travels for a while, it can feel distant from everything and ah time exhausting, to to take care of your mental health and give yourself little bit of time to that from time to time to fit that into your calendar and ah also a little bit of physical health to add to it a little bit of sports it even doesn't have to be much just a little bit to keep your body and mind balance and not let it slip away um it's tough to do so when you're traveling a lot of course ah but ah we have a saying in Serbia
00:17:53
Speaker
ah grains maketh bread. So piece by piece you're piling it up and making something very important. Yeah, see my co-board is laughing, but it's just, you know, i classical president speech. I couldn't resist.
00:18:12
Speaker
ah But then what about you guys? Fran, ah well how would you give your contribution? Yeah, as you mentioned, and I totally agree that during this board period, the most people that you are attached and you're close is the board and they are feeling the same as you. So they are your main support.
00:18:36
Speaker
are In my case, I travel a lot, a lot of time out of my home. So it was difficult sometimes to take a rest. I can say that since September to December I spent more time at aririan Adrian's house in Brussels than in my own house because it's very well connected through all Europe. this is like Having some people that can support you and understand what you are suffering, it helps you a lot and to continue working. and Now we are in the middle of our mandate and we have an energy to continue doing more less stuff.
00:19:12
Speaker
ah Yes, indeed. i can I can also say something to this. um I mean, I think the stress is definitely real, especially at times when there is a big event coming up.
00:19:23
Speaker
It can feel like quite crushing, and not necessarily only because of the workload, but especially as you feel that there's, like, as in the board, you're kind of the last line of defense that if you don't think of something, nobody thinks of it.
00:19:36
Speaker
So you can quickly feel like um like there can be quite a lot of pressure to have all those 10 projects at the same time in your view, how they're looking, who you need to contact can be a bit of a challenge at times.
00:19:50
Speaker
Especially, actually for me personally, not even so much when I'm traveling, then there's a lot happening and with the not edited and we the stress, ah sorry, with the adrenaline, you're usually managing.
00:20:03
Speaker
However, especially when with longer periods at home, it can be a tough to, at least for me to motivate myself to stand up and sit on my laptop ah in the morning and yeah, when I have a big, big to-do list and different projects to manage that can be specifically tough for me.
00:20:19
Speaker
But yeah, that's where you try to reach ah contact to some friends or partners. and I'm actually going ah to my family this evening because of, yeah, there's like a lot of projects to to be able to finish.
00:20:31
Speaker
And just getting a bit of rest at home during that time can be very, very beneficial. But of course, also from the rest of the board, like I feel like that at many times where also I was struggling, they were still always there to support to and give me honestly at times much more like tolerance and much more understanding than could have expected from any other person.
00:20:55
Speaker
So yeah, that's for sure has always been very important.
00:21:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think in general, physical well-being and mental well-being is is a very important topic, not only to six of us individually and as a group, and but to anyone balancing any work, private life situation.
00:21:23
Speaker
I know for myself, um council meeting Seville was a great, great experience, but it was also a very difficult and exhausting one. And I know personally, it was a very big emotional experience And mental hit on me. So I haven't really recovered when it comes to the sickness part ah ever since. I'm still sick.
00:21:43
Speaker
ah So I've been sick, I think, countless times afterwards. And I just sometimes do feel like there's little resting time. But, um and it would be, it would be amazing if I could tell you that it's all fun.
00:21:57
Speaker
It is, but it's also sometimes difficult. But it's important that you as an individual, whatever you're working on, whether it's board, whether it's leadership, whether it's school, whether it's whatever, that you always think about your health, because I know I don't always.
00:22:14
Speaker
And the that's a big, you know, cross that I carry. and And a big part of it is on me. But I hope that anyone listening to this would will, you know, remember this at least one person. And just, you know, sometimes as as my co-boardie said, like find time for yourself, take a walk, see friends, anything.
00:22:33
Speaker
i know the year can be exhausting. I mean, the board position this year, I actually... involve the full semester at uni. I also have a part-time student job, but which is all things that I probably shouldn't have taken on myself, but, uh, please use this as a lesson to aim high, but also be a bit realistic and, uh, mindful of your health.
00:22:57
Speaker
But, um, yeah, a balance is key. I would say, uh, Hannes.
00:23:03
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, I would add on that while, of course, we talked a lot about the the things you have to do and a lot of work being there. That by itself is not really stressful because it's something we all more or less knew when we applied for the position and it's something we decided on.
00:23:20
Speaker
And the the normal work, yeah, you spend a lot of time it, but you can plan with that. You can... let's call it deal with it without being stressed out. But then if there's like some situations where other factors are also at play and it's coming all on top, or maybe there are some issues coming up, like Lucia mentioned in the council meeting where we had some issues we had to deal with during that, or ah from time to time during the year when there are some projects that might not be going.
00:23:50
Speaker
as well as they are doing. That's like the so moments where it's more stressful than you kind of expect and where it's really important to have ah some friends you can rely on. And ah maybe also, as Abbas already said, just some time you can spend with doing sports, just doing something else to ah get like a balance ah in your life during that time.
00:24:15
Speaker
And I guess Atri probably also has to share something about his ways to deal with stress. Indeed, like um as you all said, it's indeed a lot.
00:24:26
Speaker
However, I have like this kind of paradox, like in big events, when you actually see the result of your work, or not the result, but at least see why you're working and who you are working for, it's also...
00:24:39
Speaker
I would say at least for me something that is relieving a bit my stress and make me motivated and make me understand why I took this position and so on. But I could, um yeah, I can only definitely stress what Lucia said, that it's extremely important to also be able to take some like a personal time. So like be able to cut off from from the work, cut off from school and just like spend one, two, three hours Or like one one one evening just for you, like meet some friends or even like stay alone, but being able to have like this clear frontier barrier in between like your working, studying life and and your your own life.
00:25:21
Speaker
Because that's indeed what is like keeping the balance more or less balancing. So, so yeah.
00:25:33
Speaker
People often keep talking about were stress based on the workload. But when I'm talking with people and I mentioned that a big trip is coming up ahead of me, like 40 days traveling around Europe, usually people be like, wow, you're going to see so many countries and travel so much and so on. But there's...
00:25:56
Speaker
The other side of it, where you're every week traveling somewhere um for hours, maybe even a full day of just traveling, which is on its own tiring, and then changing the diet so it can impact your stomach if you're a bit sensitive, then ah changing the people that you're around.
00:26:16
Speaker
ah Those can also be forms of stress. But ah when you're in the board and when you're meeting people, your co-boardies often, then it it can be a stress relief. And well I would like to say how grateful I am that we've, from the start of our mandate, even during the handover period, started having these are small board vacations after Every big event we're in together, a board meeting or CM, we're staying together or going somewhere for ah just a day or two together to ah let go a bit of stress, bond and enjoy our travels a bit.
00:26:58
Speaker
I think that is also very important. Yeah, I can actually catch up on that. To say that it's, it's ah I get into the situation quite a lot when I'm talking with some with some friends and about it.
00:27:10
Speaker
And I'm like, yeah, I spent some time in this country and this country. they're like, um yeah, oh, it must be so amazing. We're jealous. But most of the time, you've probably mostly seen back of some conference room or of some university campus.
00:27:24
Speaker
And although that is often also actually quite fascinating and especially meeting the local students and talking with them is, at least in my opinion, one of the most amazing things um to yeah talk about ah while traveling and one of the things i love most about even being in a STEAM.
00:27:42
Speaker
ah However, yeah, there is a bit of a level too. You don't want to be complaining about, oh, I'm traveling around, I'm meeting a lot of people. It's not something you can really complain about, but at some point it does get very, very, very tiring.
00:27:54
Speaker
But I think we've gone better at like planning some little board holidays right after. Like, for example, we can maybe connect this directly to the ah stay in Azur and after our board meeting three in Azerbaijan, in Baku.
00:28:06
Speaker
and We had some very nice days for for a few more days where we stayed in the city center and had some Autoracy days. ah I remember it as quite positive. But being aware of this stress and workload, would you still have applied to the board if you knew you were gonna handle this from the beginning?
Reflections on Board Experiences
00:28:25
Speaker
Yeah, when you applied, maybe you don't know exactly how will be all the board year. And I'm very grateful and happy of everything that I've done.
00:28:38
Speaker
Of course, we can do more. But for me, I would like to mention two events. that I'm very close and very happy that I attended the circular economy course in Groningen.
00:28:50
Speaker
I attended as participant and I felt like being a participant when you are in the board year, it made me feel like this is an event. It's not only working, this is also learning and joining with new steamers, with newbies, that is the first time that they travel.
00:29:08
Speaker
This experience, I liked it a lot. And I also can't mention the conferences that I attended. so Yeah, going to ah Sydney was so amazing.
00:29:21
Speaker
A lot of jet lag. I remember having a board chat when it was 10 p.m. and in Europe was noon, midday. and Meeting people from all the world.
00:29:33
Speaker
Wow, this is... and professors that they taught me a lot of good lessons and to apply for the future in my career. So yeah, I motivate people to apply for education. For me, it's the best position in the board.
00:29:48
Speaker
But yeah, my board can say that also their positions are very good. And here Lucia has something to say. So please, let's go. Thank you, Fran.
00:30:00
Speaker
um Yeah, definitely. I have to agree with Fran here. If I'd known all of this last year before applying, I think I would still step on the stage and apply.
00:30:12
Speaker
i think what you get after a board year and what you learn about yourself, about working with others, ah even about the stress you endure, like the lessons you you gather throughout the year after...
00:30:26
Speaker
being in various situations, experiencing um working in an intercultural environment. it's it's All of those lessons are, I think, just priceless. It's, again, maybe cheesy, but the I would definitely do it all over again. And I think, as someone mentioned when we were talking about the last question, um you experienced a year with five other people who are going through the same thing as you are.
00:30:56
Speaker
And I think those experiences bond you for life. It maybe sounds crazy, but you really do get ah friends for life from this. And and I know that ah a year ago, I couldn't imagine being so close with people. I've just now been, you know, in some terms forced to work with after being elected into this thing called the STEAM board.
00:31:20
Speaker
But I cannot imagine my day without texting in the morning some stupid reel to any of these five or like a stupid gossip or or some message or just like letting them know that my day is exceptionally great today.
00:31:35
Speaker
And I think all of this, all the connections you make, even the stress, everything is worth it. ah Because in the end, um it's an experience that you can only um fully fathom and understand if you go through it.
00:31:52
Speaker
And I think when you do, i think it's something really, really special and that lasts a long time. ah But Hannes also has something to add on this. So what about you, Hannes?
00:32:04
Speaker
Yeah, like on the part with obviously... your co-board is really important for you to work on there. It is quite cool since we got elected, I would say like almost every month we had actually met in person somewhere, which is kind of crazy if you think about it, that we're kind of living all over Europe from ah somewhere in Spain to I think the most north is probably Berlin, but whatever. And we still have like the opportunity to meet like so regular and talk about like what
00:32:36
Speaker
what we are doing, what we are dealing with also. And yeah, it is, it is quite, uh, quite, an experience as Lucia said, I can't, I don't want to repeat everything she said, but I can only agree.
00:32:49
Speaker
and I would even say when I applied, i was kind of aware what like the, maybe not every single point, but I don't think like I was scammed into the position and then I got suddenly all the stress and whatever, because like,
00:33:03
Speaker
I knew what to expect, what kind of work I will do. i talked to her previous boardies and they told me what to do and why it might be worth to spend so much time on this team. And I can only agree, yeah, i I think I would also do it again if I were back in Averro and applied.
00:33:23
Speaker
But ah think that's also it. Like I had fun, but I don't think I would do it. another time, but I hear others probably also have opinions. so let's go.
00:33:34
Speaker
Indeed, that's ah one thing that I would say the most common ah thing that's talked about being in the board, the stress and the workload. But just taking a step back and looking at what this is, the all the mentioned ah different aspects of but rewarding elements.
00:33:55
Speaker
But all in all, of this is such a rewarding and unique experience. Just take a look anywhere else and try to find something that can compare to to such an experience, to lead an international organization for a full year with and to do it with five people from across the continent and to bond with them such strongly, that that just cannot compare to anything.
00:34:21
Speaker
The amount of new experiences you gain, new destinations you visit, ah friendships, ah lessons. As they said, every stress is a lesson. Every every mistake is a lesson.
00:34:34
Speaker
you just learn so much. And definitely me too. I knew that I was getting into something very big and exhausting, but back in Siemavajdo, I would have done it still.
00:34:48
Speaker
But Lucia has has a special kind of comment. Yeah, it's the special sign, finger sign. ah No, but I have to say milutin Milutin inspired me to think of this, but I would describe being in the board like being married like and maybe in you know a marriage that sometimes maybe doesn't work but like in the end you still have to make up because like you're not separating you're not getting divorced so you kind of have to work it out and uh yeah that does create strong bonds well that's that's definitely true i would say like being in the board is also a journey where you see like you can like
00:35:30
Speaker
Sometimes, he like definitely, it's like some bad sides that stress the workload and so on. But all the positive sides that you are like encountering during the journey is like like when you pile them up with the downside, they're just breaking the balance.
00:35:46
Speaker
You are meeting so many new people along the way. You are like organizing events. You are doing your work. And then you are seeing also the results of your work. You are also like, yeah, just meeting and seeing all these people like being interested, for example, in what you're doing or what your entities are doing is like already like something very, that is like very motivating. And that would definitely make me think that if I was back in Avera, would also ah definitely apply again.
00:36:16
Speaker
and And obviously, like not to forget to mention it, but like the the this board is also very, very, very much helpful to to like relieve with the stress. And I will definitely go through this experience again with them.
00:36:31
Speaker
Maybe not with another board, but with them for sure. Yeah, very, very cute. I don't think I can add anything more to this. um Everything has been said. Would 100% do it again.
00:36:43
Speaker
i mean, definitely difficult situations at times and the stress is very, very real. But the learnings are also ever so more. Maybe if I can add a bit of a cheesy quote from my side here that, I don't know, I think I read it in an old magazine or I'm not quite sure where, where it says that people usually get more and more involved with Steam, with the leadership and the board because they feel like ah they're getting a lot and they want to give back.
00:37:09
Speaker
But what you kind of find out while getting more and more engaged with the organization is that the more you give to it, the more you get back. So it's almost like it's almost impossible ah to to to give more here. So that's at least what I've always seen when being in a board.
00:37:27
Speaker
So, yeah.
Misconceptions About Board Roles
00:37:30
Speaker
And so what concept did you have a misconception about before being in the board and that you think other STEAMers also might have? Yeah, I should start with my position of this education in STEAM.
00:37:46
Speaker
what to What do I do here? ah Mostly it's about being with academics and with with professors. Yeah, we are here because we are IAM students.
00:38:00
Speaker
And sometimes IAM is also misunderstood because it's different in every country and also in different universities in the same country can teach different ah on your subjects.
00:38:12
Speaker
So it's a good thing to still research and knowing what is IAM in Europe. But I'm happy that we are here for one goal that is being IAM students in an IAM Europe.
00:38:26
Speaker
So we are working on that. I'm proud of that. and Doing some good, good, huge steps in the development in all the academia in the universities and Europe.
00:38:39
Speaker
And I don't know who was first, sorry, but they want to say more things, me, Lutin and Hannes. So please, Hannes, start. Yeah, I think I would go even further and say like, when before I was really considering applying for the board,
00:38:56
Speaker
I didn't really know what the board even is. Like, who even are those people? What are they doing all day? i mean, I see them to the council meetings. I go and they're sitting there on stage and presenting some things, but what do they spend all their time ah working on?
00:39:11
Speaker
And I think that's something that I obviously learned when I actually did the work, but also when I talked to people and I've considered applying. And there, one part there I noticed it's like,
00:39:24
Speaker
Of course you think like, oh, doing some innovative stuff and whatever, but actually it's also quite a lot of stuff. Just, just keeping the network running. Like for example, uh, all the regular finance tasks, our VP of finance does, or all the administration shared our VP of admin does to keep the portal running.
00:39:42
Speaker
And I also spend a lot of my time yes Making sure every single event is kind of happening as it should. And that was not really something I imagined the board really doing that much. So I was kind of confused there, but I guess it makes sense.
00:39:58
Speaker
Someone has to do it. Yeah, I think Mitchell also has comment. So what do you think? What did surprise you? um Well, everyone always keeps talking about the amount, but it's what surprised me was the diversity of the work. When you start and get into a position, you realize that it's not just what you expected it to be, but there is so many things that need to be covered and done, and many of them can be very different from one another.
00:40:34
Speaker
ah For me, that is a bit of a challenge that they're very different and sometimes needs a different mindset. But at the same time, it's it's also not monotonic. It's ah diverse and can spark more creativity for you.
00:40:50
Speaker
it It really depends on when, but that's what surprised me, the diversity of the work. Lucia, how about you? ah Yeah, just keeping it short, I think like before and like myself, my generation and all future generations, I think people very often think that board members know everything, number one, and second, know the best.
00:41:16
Speaker
I don't want to spoil it, but we're neither one or two We're just people who spend a lot of time working and trying. so I would say that.
00:41:29
Speaker
And how about Adrian? I also want to say, like, probably one of the biggest things I've learned is that, well, before applying you to the board, like, oh, but they're doing this in this way and this way, and you're not always understanding why is it like this.
00:41:46
Speaker
But then when you actually step up in the board and you start understanding why like all those previous boards have been acting like this and also why sometimes the way you were thinking things should be done ah was not always applicable for a steamer, even being like possible.
00:42:02
Speaker
That was also a very interesting lesson for me because when I when i i mean like took when i went into office, I did not like expect to have like so many things that I would have to deconstruct and then like to learn from. So definitely a very interesting experience.
Key Lessons Learned During the Board Year
00:42:20
Speaker
Talking about the lessons learned, what do you think you have learned during your board year? Communication and balance. Just that. There will be more in the second half of the mandate.
00:42:32
Speaker
um Well, for me, I would i would say two that it were most impactful. The first one is always staying true to yourself and work and decisions you make.
00:42:45
Speaker
But the second one ah is to really pick the battles you fight. Not everything is always worth the fight. Yeah, I would say change, especially in this team, it's very slow moving.
00:42:57
Speaker
So you have to start early on projects and don't expect them to be done in like half a year. For me, it's mostly staying on top of projects, ah like 10, sorry.
00:43:09
Speaker
For me, it's mostly staying on top of like 10 projects at the same time. And yeah, are dealing with the stress that comes from the constant thinking about it that you can never really let go, ah which, yeah, gets you there in terms of self-organization and, and yeah, dealing with this, which is still a bit learning.
00:43:31
Speaker
For me, one sentence on what I learned is and do it because you love and you aim to do it better because no one will thank what you are doing right now.
Future Goals and Plans
00:43:44
Speaker
And now that we are past 2025 and we left half of your mandate behind, what are your future goals in the rest of your mandates? Well, Umut, honestly, from my side, my biggest goal is finishing the year peacefully with my board and not f***ing up anything in this team.
00:44:04
Speaker
I'm looking forward to finishing, being happy with how ah we all did and moving on to greater things. I think for me, one project that I might be looking forward to a lot, a lot, a lot is a joint BestDemek event that of course right now we don't know if it will be successful or not, but at least it's it's on the portal.
00:44:26
Speaker
ah So yes, ah looking very much forward to this and let's see how it goes. um Of course, also council meeting and especially pre-events I think will be very, very extra juicy this year.
00:44:38
Speaker
For me, it's just to finish some of the projects and make sure that hopefully the next board continues following in what we changed and it has like a positive impact for the future of our team.
00:44:54
Speaker
For me, it would definitely be ensuring the sustainability of our fundraising and and probably and probably ah like I would say I'm i'm looking forward for two events which are Finance Summit and Siem Niche.
00:45:10
Speaker
Also CM Calabria for sure, but CM Nish I think would be the milestone and final summit because it's very fun, fun, fun. But yeah. In my case, related with education, one of my personal goals and also for the development of STEAM is to do at least one, but probably two or three ah research papers that will present in conferences.
00:45:37
Speaker
That is a big and huge step that I'm willing to achieve this year. Fantastic answers, everyone. Thank you for coming in and sharing some of the insights into the life as a boardie.
00:45:49
Speaker
That's all for today's Esteem podcast episode. Have a great rest of your mandate and anybody listening, have an amazing 2025.