Internal and External Affairs

Hi! I am Lisanne and this year the Internal and External Affairs Officer of Board 51. As the Internal Affairs Officer, I mainly have contact with the members, I form all committees and I supervise most of them. I also regularly have conversations with members about them and the committees. Furthermore, as the External Affairs Officer, I am responsible for the cooperation between Kraket and companies. I keep in touch with them and also organize the Inhouse Days. A small task that also fits my position is that I send all contracts to the companies.

I really like that I have two functions and that also makes it very varied. That sometimes makes it also challenging, since sometimes I really have to say to myself “okay now we are going to do internal tasks”, for example. Most of the day I am actually busy with the External Affairs function. I actually always start the day by answering my emails. Every day I receive many emails from companies with a question or that they might want to collaborate with us. In addition, I am also often looking for possible new companies with which we could enter into a partnership.

My week is also filled with a lot of meetings. Since I supervise most committees, I also have many meetings that I attend. I always really like this. It is a very good way to chat with people and to relax in the Kraketroom after the meeting. I also really like being the Internal Affairs Officer, since I get to form the committees. Sometimes that is quite difficult. Kraket doesn't always have a lot of registrations for committees, so you almost always have to approach extra people. On the other hand, this makes forming the committees more fun, since it is not immediately clear who will be in the committees and I still have to do something for it.

I think the best thing about the External Affairs function is that you really get to know a lot of people from companies. If a committee then organizes a formal event, you will recognize almost everyone present from the companies. It is also very nice to really be the contact person between the companies and the students on the Inhouse Days for example.

The best thing about the board is that you have so many fun activities and come into contact with so many different people. In addition to the activities of Kraket, you also have fun things with other boards and sometimes with the faculty itself.

During the board year I really learned to work well together with people and especially with the board itself. I have really noticed that communication is very important and I have certainly learned that.

The board year can sometimes be quite challenging. Especially if you have a busy week in which you have many activities, it is sometimes difficult to find the work-life balance. What really helps me is to schedule my free moments. I always look at my agenda the week before and then really sit down to plan the next week. I always start by putting my regular appointments in my paper agenda, where I also divide my to do's over the days. Furthermore, I also look very carefully at which moments I can and will really take my rest.

I hope that through this article you have learned a little more about me and my functions. If you have any further questions, you can always contact me or visit the Kraketroom!