Emma Räihä

HeiMoi!

I’m Emma Räihä, second year Prosessiteekkari studying Chemistry and Material science, and I’m applying to be the Fuksi Captain of our beloved association in 2023.

When I started my studies here last autumn, I couldn’t have imagined what the fuksiyear and ”teekkarius” would bring to my life; lots of fun events, lovely people and memorable moments. The fuksiyear was by far the best year of my life, and it would be amazing to be able to organize equally wonderful year for the new fuksis.

I actively participated in the activities of the association last year, and as a host&hostess helper I have learned a lot about organizing events and practical matters related to that. I also worked as one of the ”pääkavitaattorit” in Kavitaatio last spring, which taught me to keep a slightly bigger set together. In addition, I have been helping in other events as a volunteer as well, and I have enjoyed these tasks a lot. This autumn as an ISO I’ve been capable to hang out with the fuksis a bit, and the interest and idea that arose already last year of applying for this position became even stronger. And what could possibly be better than being able to combine both fuksieducation and event organizing than being the Fuksi Captain!

I would describe myself as a positive, conscientious and reliable partner. I am open and curious about everything new. Meeting new people and generally being with them and working together is close to my heart. I don’t take life or myself too seriously, which is why I also have the ability to ”let myself loose” in different situations. Before starting my studies I worked for couple of years in the restaurant industry as a shift manager, so I am familiar with teamwork, responsibility and leading the group, and the interaction skills with different people improved even more. When I was younger I was ”isonen” and group leader at comfirmation camps, and also a prefect, and I’m sure I have gathered a lot from all these tasks that I could use as a Fuksi Captain.

Being the Fuksi Captain is time-consuming and certainly demanding, but I believe that the 1,5-year period gives so much more than it takes. Raising the fuksis from a new and exciting environment to become part of this great teekkari-community and being a Prosessiteekkari would be a great honor and a task which for I have enourmous enthusiasm and motivation.

To me, ”teekkarius” means, above all, community and a culture where everyone is warmly welcomed, where we have fun together, and organize and do different things for everyone’s enjoyment, as well as appreciate, encourage and help each other. I really would like to be leading new fuksis into this amazing world and raise them to be true members of Prosessiteekkarit.

You can contact me on telegram @emmaraiha if you have any questions or anything else in your mind 🙂

1. If you were Fuksi Captain, what would your goal for the next 1.5 years be? How would you develop the different aspects of fuksi activities? What would you like to keep?

The most important goal would be, of course, to organize a fun and memorable fuksiyear for the fuksis, and that they would find their own place in the teekkari-community during the year. I would also like to encourage them to become active members of PT, so that they would take part in the association’s activities even after their fuksiyear. In my opinion, PT has already had a lot of different kinds of events, and I would like that to continue in the future, so that the fuksiactivities would contain a variety of different events and things to do for everyone. Of course, the events could be developed a bit based on possible new ideas or feedback from previous events. I also think that it is important to maintain cooperation between other guilds, so that we can continue to organize various events together with fuksis from other fields.

2. Students who do not feel that they belong to a community or have relationships 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 would like to increase group activities in fuksigroups right at the beginning of the term. For many, those smaller groups offer support and safety, but unfortunately many do not have time to get to know their own group members very well. This would perhaps require a little more effort form the ISOs, if at the very beginning they would organize, for example, hangouts with their own group, or arrange regular lunch meetings together, etc. They could also possibly think about something to do together among another fuksigroup. In some events, mixed/raffled groups could also bring the opportunity to get to know others better outside of the own friendgroup. I also consider that the activities of various clubs and organizations of Aalto are important, and it’s good that they are introduced to fuksis at the beginning, for example in Otasuunnistus. I would like to encourage fuksis to explore the activities, and I’d inform about fuksievents etc. organized by the clubs, so those who are interested could take a look on their activities easily.

3. Given the large amount of PT fuksis and the possible increase in intake next year, how would you prepare for the above questions?

Unfortunately, the large number of fuksis makes it difficult to notice each individual fuksi. Of course, as a Fuksi Captain, it would be important to keep eyes and ears open so that loneliness or other problems could get noticed, but ISOs could also be a great help in this matter by being with their own fuksigroups. I’d also hope that the ISOs would inform the Captains unhesitatingly, if they notice that some fuksi withdraws during the year etc. On the event organizing, on the other hand, a large number of fuksis will certainly cause some problems with choosing spaces. From the beginning of the term in autumn, when it is most important to get as many as possible, preferably all the fuksis to participate in the events, we could fortunately be outside (of course the weather conditions in Finland can make this more or less challenging :D), so there wouldn’t luckily be space restrictions.

4. How would you ensure equality between Finnish- and English-speaking bachelor fuksis?

Of course, all information should be in English as well, as it has been already. Also in fuksis’ own things, such as CanCan, building projects and organizing Kavitaatio, information should at least be in English, and if necessary, English should be used so that all fuksis can participate equally. I think it could also be a good idea to organize a couple of English-only events, or at least take care of forming mixed groups. This could encourage Finnish- and English-speaking fuksis to get to know each other, and above all, English-speaking fuksis to participate more in events and PT activities. Cooperation with the Head of International and Master’s Affairs would be important in this matter. The experiences of older English-speaking students could also be asked and utilized.

5. 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 good atmosphere and working habits with your partner?

Above all, I’d like a partner who is as enthusiastic and motivated about the task of Fuksi Captain as I am. I’d also want to be able to trust my partner so that I would know we’ll stay on schedule and all the necessary things will be taken care of properly. The work input of both of us should be of the same value, and not that one of us constantly does more than the other. Of course, flexibility must also be found if, for example, due to illness the other is temporarily able to do less work. I also value honesty, openness and the ability to genuinely listen to each other. We have to be able to throw ideas around, and that’s why it’s important to value the other person’s opinions and thoughts, so that we can compose and develop them together. It would be great if we had a sense of humor and the ability to take it easy, so that the work wouldn’t be too serious, and we’d have fun working together. Naturally, I myself strive for everything that I hope from my partner. I think that a good atmosphere and working habits with my partner is fulfilled and maintained if both work with respect for each other and work is done with a positive attitude.