The community sector’s 2025 recap

Katarina Roivainen, Vice-Chair of the Board, corporate relations, and tutoring

My year in the Board has been eventful, and I’ve experienced and learned a lot of new things.

Being responsible for corporate relations, the busiest times of the year were the beginning and end of the year with renewing contracts. I’ve gotten to meet partners, negotiate, and sign new contracts. At first it was nerve-racking to represent the Student Union and negotiate on its behalf, but I quickly got used to it.

In the middle of the year, I focused more on developing the responsibility and coming up with new collaborations. Next year, the goal is to develop corporate relations even further, so I spent a lot of time this fall laying the groundwork for next year.

The tutor project has kept me busy throughout the year. Although the tutor project itself occurs in the fall, the preparations began early in January with hiring the tutor coordinators. In the spring, the tutor educators and tutors received their training and preparations for the fall were in full swing. 

In the fall we finally got to the best part: welcoming our new freshers to Vaasa. This year, a record-breaking number of freshers began their studies at the University of Vaasa, so naturally our tutor project also expanded. Our fantastic tutor coordinators and educators managed it wonderfully, and the tutor project succeeded.

As Vice-Chair of the Board, the year has taught me a lot about leadership. As leader of the community sector, I’ve been involved in matters regarding events, organizations, member services, communications, and internationality. Although everyone in VYY’s Executive Board has their own responsibilities, we work in close cooperation. Team work gives the best results!

Aleksi Rönkä, events

The year has gone by fast, and I’ve gotten to organize VYY’s diverse, traditional events. My highlights were our Wappu picnic and the Topelius graduation hat ceremony, because they were the most important events of VYY’s May Day celebrations. Organizing them meant submitting permit applications and contacting different instances. Preparations weren’t the easiest, and the day was very busy. I learned a lot about organizing large and public events.

The fall was a lot easier. After all, we’d all worked in the Board for six months and gathered at a summer cottage to go through upcoming events and relax before the fall. My work had clearly developed compared to the first half of the year. My own actions and time management were more effective.

We organized at least one event every month of the year, so after every event, I started planning one or several new ones. Preparation, planning, and cooperation are the key elements of being responsible for events.

Being in the Board meant I was never bored. In addition to all our local activities, we also travelled around Finland to SYL’s seminars in Tampere and Lahti and the General Assembly in Otaniemi, to the periphery student union meeting in Rovaniemi, and other student unions’ Annual Balls. I look back at all this with great warmth!

Juuso Tynjälä, international affairs

The Board member responsible for international affairs is part of both the community and the advocacy sectors. You can read about Juuso’s year in this blog post by the advocacy sector!

Joni Virtanen, organizations and member services

The year has gone pretty much as I expected. I’ve gotten to influence mutual matters that are important to me. Being responsible for organizations and member services has meant having a lot of room to grow and pursue my own interests.

During the year, I’ve been involved in various procurement processes, like acquiring the rental van and a coffee vending machine. These have provided me, an industrial engineering student, the opportunity to fulfill my passion for Excel. Handling and presenting grant applications to the Board has done the same.

The best parts about my tasks were that they were concrete and I could see the fruits of my labor. Awarding project grants has concretely enabled new activities in our community, and the van I presented to the Representative Council is actually parked outside. Working for our members and organizations makes an impact.

Finally, give a piece of advice to yourself a year into the past.

Kata: Be brave and get involved. Don’t be nervous or worry for nothing!

Aleksi: I’d tell myself to be braver in making independent decisions. Visit all the Annual Balls in other student unions! Additionally, I’d communicate what I’ve done and what feels difficult more efficiently, and ask for help or guidance more. Although I’m responsible for VYY’s events, I don’t have to worry about them alone. 

Joni: Invest in the relationship between VYY and organizations, because we all want the same things.