Three interns have started their work for the summer at the AYY Central Office during May and June.
Riikka Koskela develops housing communications, Sanni Laiho works with student well-being and equality, while Märt Vesinurm focuses on AYY’s organizational development.
All three are familiar with student life.
Laiho has worked in the Helsinki University Student Union board in 2014 and Koskela has internships at the University of Tampere and Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences under her belt. Vesinurm has held many various positions in AYY, for example as a Representative Council member.
AYY sent a call for applications for interns in spring 2018 with eight different job descriptions. The applicants could also suggest internship plans of their own choosing.
”I liked the fact that there were several different descriptions available and you could bring your own knowledge and likes out in the application”, says Koskela, who studies organizational communications at the University of Vaasa.
”I applied for three other tasks, but I ended up with the offer to work in with organizational development. Industrial engineering and management are an interesting part of my studies, so getting to know the subject in practice suits me well”, Vesinurm, who studies information networks at the Aalto School of Science, says with a smile.
”Student well-being has always been a subject close to my heart. I thought I had left student unions behind, but decided to apply for an internship at AYY after a bout of inspiration sparked by the theme of well-being”, says Laiho, who is graduating the Finnish Language master’s degree programme at the University of Helsinki in the upcoming fall.
The interns will be working in various projects during the summer.
Laiho is creating an equality ruleset for associations working in AYY’s sphere of influence, mapping the steps and measures taken based on the results on the AllWell? survey and plans a campaign on intervening in harassment taking place in the student community.
Koskela’s task is to map AYY’s communication in matters of housing and to plan how communications regarding student apartments could be improved in the future.
Vesinurm is working on an organizational manual to help with directing AYY’s actions, which will be documented with for example the tasks of teams and other kinds of” silent information” the work community has. The manual will help to ensure that crucial information will not disappear into thin air with changes in staff.
The goal of each intern is to enhance and improve the Student Union’s activities in some way. Their wish is also to learn skills that can be applicable in their future careers.
”I’d like to learn to implement abstract things into the work community; things like the brand or values”, Vesinurm ponders.” It would be great that each member of staff would know how their work takes the Student Union towards its goals when executing their work tasks.”
”In my previous internships I’ve realized that learning can come from unexpected places, so I will do my best to keep my eyes open. I can learn new things in communications on one hand, and on the other how to cope with people in new ways. I am open to all kinds of new things”, Koskela says.
”I hope that by the end of this internship I will have made a difference that will outlive my short summer internship. Something I can point to and say that ‘I did that’ and be proud of the result”, Laiho sums up.