Can you share how it felt when you joined the AYY board?
Besides the board members, TOKYO also has an executive manager, Anna Merikari, and she works at the AYY office. She told us last year that the AYY board application period has started. Three of us did apply, and Totti Korpua and I were selected to the AYY board. It’s a one-year full-time commitment.
The term of AYY board starts in January. It was a very different experience especially in the beginning of the year. I realized that whereas in ARTS and in TOKYO board we had diversity of nationalities and ethnicities, I came to the office space of around 50 employees, where I’m one of the few international people and the only international person on the board of ten people. The student union has existed since 2010, and I’m the third international board member – there were two international board members in 2020.
As someone who doesn’t speak Finnish or Swedish, the tiny things at the office made me feel like I wasn’t welcomed there. For example, each room has a name and all of them are labelled in Finnish. They are value-based words like ‘Rohkeus’ (courage) and ‘Reilus’ (fair). In Microsoft Teams, the majority of the channels were labeled in Finnish and the recycling bins didn’t have English labelling until last month.
These tiny reminders made me question myself: what am I doing here? What is my purpose here? Back then, the office was not ready to welcome me. It was scary to admit openly that I don’t feel included, and I needed someone to recognize that and stand behind me. I was open about this with my board, the chair and the executive director. Even though the beginning of the year was difficult, now I’m very happy that I’m the member of the board.
Our chair, board members and the rest of the office did a great job in terms of hearing my feedback when something was not inclusive or accessible because of the language barriers. They have taken steps forward to make those changes. Now, I know how things are handled and how feedback is implemented within AYY. It helps me to navigate, and everything is easier. These experiences and positive changes made me feel more empowered.
We don’t necessarily need to speak the same language to understand each other. There are different ways how to convey a message, e.g. whether it be using online translators, having professional interpreters or asking a board member or employee to do interpretation for me. We’ve developed and advanced these practices during this year.