Halloped is a beautiful word, although it’s not Latin

Meetings, credits, star pin. Three things that could come to your mind from the word halloped (student representative) if you didn’t know better. Actually, a former Vice President of Aalto University long believed that a “learned borrowing halloped” means something beautiful in Latin. I would love to believe this myself, as these three words that make up the acronym are ever so sexy administration (hallinto), student (opiskelija) and representative (edustaja).

Now that November is turning into December, Aalto University Student Union is again looking for enthusiastic student representatives to Aalto’s various decision-making bodies and preparatory groups for the coming year. Student representatives will address matters regarding well-being, funding, bachelor reforms, hybrid lectures, equality or programmes in English, not forgetting the Sisu system.

I am currently a student representative in Aalto University’s Board Nomination Committee, where I have a good understanding of the impact of our unique university on the world, society and the daily life of students. The issues that students want to discuss with the university are not trivial.

Student representatives are in a unique position to see how, for example, the section on community and well-being in Aalto’s strategy has influenced the goals of monitoring course workloads and how it will eventually translate into concrete measures in course planning at the meetings of various bodies. Several openings for discussion, such as the need for study psychologists, have come from students.

As a student representative, you learn important skills, such as how to bring up your own ideas at meetings and how important it is to find the courage to ask tough questions at times. However, the most significant lesson for every student representative is this: influencing a major set of matters cannot be done by one person. While different departments and schools at the university may have no clue of what is going on at another school, student representatives are the invaluable resources that quickly share university-wide information with each other.

This is also the best part of being a student representative. You can get a broader view of the world and society in which you study – and the most motivating thing is that you are at the forefront of building the Aalto community and improving its paths of learning.

If the acronym halloped were developed one day, I would like to form it from these words: student community, coffee time, interest. Fortunately, there are already too many new abbreviations in the student world.

Suvi Vendelin
halloped

The search for student representatives to Aalto's administration is open until 30 Nov 23:59. Check out the call and apply at beta.halloped.fi!