A week in the life of Tristan de Keyzer

Hi! I am Tristan de Keyzer and I am the last board member to tell you about their week. Before I start with my week I would like to give a short introduction. I’m 22 years old and I’m currently doing the master Financial Econometrics. This year I am the secretary and educational officer of Kraket. Both functions are really challenging and, to be honest, really different each week. Next year we need a new board and I hope to convince some of you that being a board member is a lot of fun!

Monday
Every Monday we have a board meeting at 10:00. Before this meeting I like to prepare myself by reading the action points of last week’s board meeting. This Monday was the first Monday after the exam week, which means I had to take the time to catch up with some of my tasks of last week. This means I made several updates to the Kraket website, including posting new vacancies, a new company profile but also uploaded new Kraket activities. If you are reading this you probably already know it, but Monday is also the day when we upload the newest SECTOR article. Although I don’t participate in writing the articles, the Secretary is still the person responsible for uploading the article on the website. The start of period 5 means, of course, that it was also the end of the exam week. One of my tasks as Secretary of Kraket is the maintenance of the exam archive. To keep the exam archive up to date, I contacted students from different years. Because today is also the first week after the exams, I also started collecting feedback of the exam week. Exams are a little bit different than previous years, so it is important to check if all exams were fraud proof and to check if exams showed the same level of difficulty as previous years. Collecting and passing on feedback is something I spend some time on most of the week, but Mondays are the days I spend the most time on it.

Tuesday
Normally I start Tuesday by finishing the minutes of Monday’s board meeting. I write the minutes for our own board, so we know who has which action points and in order to read back conversations after a meeting, but I also write the minutes for our supervisory committee. After I am finished with the minutes I continue writing for the monthly newsletter, which is due for Thursday. Kraket’s newsletter is Kraket’s way to communicate important information with all our members. We announce events, talk about the latest SECTOR and Ecotribune articles and share other news like updates from the faculty. Normally I work a bit longer on the website on Tuesday, but today I finish around 13:30 because it is time to meet up with the Sport and Games committee. Today they will organize the Padel activity. Most preparations are already done, but we check everything one last time before we start lifting some heavy boxes filled with AA, fruit and water. We travel to Sloterdijk where we meet the rest of the participants.

Wednesday
After the Padel activity (and a small drink after), I wake up a little bit tired for the new day. Normally I like to sleep in a bit on Wednesday and get some schoolwork done, but today we have the long-awaited Diversity and Development Day. In contrast to the Sport and Games activity, I am not the supervisor of the DDD, so fortunately today wasn’t as busy as last day. However, as a board member you are still expected to read about the companies and prepare some questions so there aren’t any awkward silences during the speed date event. However, although it was a long and interesting day, my working day isn’t done yet. I used my Wednesday evening to write this SECTOR article.

Thursday
On Thursday my day is mostly filled with meetings. We often start with an informal board meeting. During this meeting we discuss subjects like Kraket Weekend and the Active Members Day. After the board meeting, I have some time left before the next meeting. This Thursday is the 1st day of the month, which means that my day is a little bit different than normal. On the 1st day of the month it’s time for the monthly newsletter. Most of the preparations for the newsletter are done before today, but I still do the final check before sending it to all Kraketters. During this final check I correct the remaining grammar errors and I check if everything that was supposed to be in the newsletter is there. Around midday I take a short lunch break. During the lunch break I often play some games with other board members or I read the news. After the lunch break I make the final preparations for my next meeting: the weekly meeting with the Almanac committee. I can’t say too much about the content of the Almanac meeting because we like to keep it secret for a little bit longer but being a member of a committee is lots of fun! After the Almanac meeting it is time for my next and final meeting: The Sport and Games committee meeting. In contrast to the Almanac committee, of which I am a member, is the function for the Sport and Games committee limited to supervising them. It’s nice to end a busy day with a relaxed meeting. The Sport and Games committee meetings are always enjoyable, which is an excellent end of my day. After this meeting I end the day with drinks with my board members.

Friday
Friday is, once again, a day mostly filled with meetings. This week I start the day with a meeting with the SECTOR committee. During this meeting we discuss potential ideas for new articles, discuss previously released articles and give updates concerning current articles. At the end of the SECTOR meeting I have 5 minutes to get a new cup of coffee before my meeting with the Charity committee, who are busy with the preparations for the charity auction. After my two committee meetings I often play a meeting related to my function of Educational Officer. This meeting can be with one of the lecturers, with whom I discuss feedback given by students, or issues related to the course. Or my meeting is with someone from the faculty. This includes members of the Faculty Student Council or University Student Council, but sometimes also with the program director of Econometrics. During these meetings we address and discuss the quality of education at the VU. We think about ways to improve the relationship between lecturers and students, but also discuss ways to minimize the possibility of fraud and other potential issues. After my last meeting I often have a small drink with students and/or board members in the Kraket room before I head home.

The lay-out of my week is often different each week, but I hope this gave you some insights regarding the average week of the Secretary and Educational Officer of Kraket. If you have any questions you can always send me a message or register for ‘Speed dating with the Board’!