She has a lot of European experience with various positions and attended many European events. Some of the positions she has had were Vice-Speaker of Information Technology Committee (ITC), Secretary of Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Network Commissioner, and more recently, the PR Responsible of Democracy in Practice Project and currently the Project Manager of Democracy in Practice Project. Lia Tuska doesn’t want to rest, she is running the second time for Secretary of the Agora. We asked her a few questions about her motivation and program.
The AEGEEan: Let us begin by telling us three words that describe you and why you chose them. 
Lia: Laugh: one of the most important things for me is laughing. I like seeing people laugh and I do the same. I laugh a lot and I really like making others laugh. The world is better when you are laughing, and I believe that when you smile the universe returns good things to you, so if you are reading this please smile.
Inspire: from a young age, I liked inspiring people. When I became trainer at the Youth Trainers Academy, I had to randomly pick a wooden cube with a word written on it. The word I received was “Inspire” and so far, I have inspired some participants as a trainer. When you can inspire others, you feel like the happiest person in the world.
Authentic: it is impossible for me to lie, I am too honest. Actually, more honest than I should be. I have this principle “treat people the way you want to be treated”. I am true to them and I expect the same from them.
Why do you want to run the second time for Secretary of the Agora?
First Plenary as Secretary’s Assistant
First of all, it’s not a secret, I love being Secretary. The first article I wrote for the AEGEEan was Being the Secretary of the Agora. Writing it motivated me to apply as Secretary Assistant at Agora Zaragoza. Of course, the support I got from Elena Antova, Secretary of Agora Zaragoza, kept my motivation high. That’s the reason I ran the first time. Not been elected didn’t affect my motivation, and that’s why I was Svenja’s assistant at AgorAsturias and after it, I helped Danae with the Agora Cagliari minutes. The recordings had really bad quality and we were working on them many hours every day. Both of us believe that it was better to write down everything it was said and it was really hard to achieve that. When the Open Call for Interim Secretary of the Agora was issued, the idea of applying passed my mind, but in the end, I decided to not do it.
Answering your question, I think it’s a pity that nobody applied for Secretary of the Agora. Unfortunately, this position (except last year) usually has one or no applicants. I understand that it is considered a hard, tiresome and maybe boring position, but there should be someone to do this job. I don’t mind doing it. After all, it’s a dream and I never stopped believing that I will make it come true. It’s also another challenge for me to dare to do it. I am looking forward to work as Secretary of the Agora for a full term.
How would you explain the role of the Secretary of the AGORA to a 10 year old?
With Danae Matakou, Secretary of Agora Cagliari
I have already done it for my 9 and 11 year old cousins last year. There are those important meetings, Agorae that happen two times per year and they last four or five days. Everything that is said in those meetings needs to be kept. A secretary’s job is to write down what people say. The Secretary of the Agora is an important person, who needs to be very patient. Most of the time he/she is on stage, not talking, listening carefully to everything that everyone says, trying to not miss something and typing. Thankfully, there are recordings so the Secretary will hear them afterwards to fill in parts that are missing. That’s the “boring” part. The cool part is that the Secretary can skip the really long queues for meals and has internet access (most of the time).
According to you, what would be the best characteristic of a Secretary of the Agora?
I believe that it cannot be just one characteristic that makes you a good Secretary of the Agora, but if I have to choose one, I would say good listening skills. Firstly, you hear different accents and secondly, you cannot always be sure about the quality of the recordings.
How fast can you write? (approximate words per minute)
Last time I tested my speed, my score was 47 words per minute.
According to you, when does a Secretary have to publish the minutes of an Agora?
First Prytanium as Secretary’s Assistant
As a perfectionist, I would say that the ideal time for the minutes to be published is one month after the Agora. People are back to their normal life, they can check their mails and what happened at the Agora is still fresh in their memory. After my experience with the Agora Cagliari minutes, and hearing stories from older Agorae, I say that it depends. The minutes should be published when the Secretary is 100% sure that they don’t need any more improvements from their side. Lastly, in case of any issues appearing, the Secretary should inform the Network about the status of their work.
Can you elaborate on “create a team of Secretary Assistants” in your candidature regarding the program? What did you mean exactly by that and what would be their role?
With Elena Antova, Secretary of Agora Zaragoza
The Secretary of the Agora cannot (yet) clone themselves to attend all the parallel Prytania, so they need to appoint Secretary’s Assistants. Before every Agora an Open Call for Secretary’s Assistants is issued. Those assistants are helping the Secretary by taking minutes during parallel sessions and after the Agora, they receive the recording(s) of their session(s) and they are given a deadline to send their part of the minutes. I want to create a team which hopefully I will keep to both Agorae. I will be there for the team to support them. As I said, there is a lack of applications for Secretary of the Agora, and this is a problem that should be solved. My goal is to motivate at least one of my assistants to go for it and dare to apply for such a responsible position.
With Svenja van der Tol, Secretary of AgorAsturias
How much time can you invest in helping the Chair Team?
I have a lot of free time since I finished my studies and I work as virtual assistant, which means I spent a lot of time online and I check my mails frequently. My working hours are very flexible, and I can assist the Chair Team anytime if they ask me to.
Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București
You can read her full candidature here.