Spring AgoraAsturias is less than one week away, candidates are getting nervous, especially CD candidates, because there are only four vacant places and six candidates. The AEGEEan spoke with Natalia Ivleva to see is she can convince us that she’ll make a great CD member.
The AEGEEan: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Natalia: I’m Natalia from AEGEE-Voronezh (it’s a “small” city somewhere in Russia ). I’ve been the Secretary of my local for two years, then I grew as a SubCommisioner in Vira’s team and also as an Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) member. Currently I’m the Vice-Speaker of the Network Commission (NetCom).
Besides this I’m doing my Master in Theoretical Physics (yes, I’m like Sheldon Cooper, but prettier) and I’m in love with sport/music/art/travelling and I can work all day and party all night.
Being a CD member means that you have to represent AEGEE-Europe in different meetings and you have to speak on behalf of AEGEE. Do you think you are up to that?
I’m sure that every person who is brave enough to represent themselves in front of 800 people at the Agora can do anything. Moreover I already had this experience. I represented AEGEE-Europe in some local organisations in Voronezh.
What made you decide to run for CD beside the fact that you want to share all the knowledge that you have gathered so far?
For me AEGEE was always a place where I can grow and improve my skills, learn something new and so on. I learned a lot while I was only a member, then I got some knowledge as a Board member in my local, improve it in ACT-team and got new experience as NetCom. Now it’s time for a new step. I wanna get my Phd in AEGEE ‘science’.
What do you want to do first, if you will get elected?
This is a hard question for me. I think that I will start to ask everyone around me something like “Is it really my name there? Am I elected? Is this true?”. Then I will cry, smile, sit and don’t realise that I actualy won. After that, I’ll wake up, be sure that it was not just a dream and finish all the things that I’m carrying out right now.
Do you think that AEGEE changed you in the person you are today? If yes, why, and what moment of the experience did it?
Of course AEGEE changed me. Before being an AEGEE member I was a shy person who didn’t knew other languages except the native one and had panic attacks just thinking that I have to present my Master thesis. Now I’m ready to sit and talk at the Agora in a foreign language. I’m not a perfect English speaker, but I’m practicing and step by step I will became better.
I’m not afraid to make decision just because somebody will not accept them. I’m making a lot of spontaneous decisions which are making me happy in the end. I can’t name all the things in my AEGEE life that changed me, but all the experience I had until now, all the events I’ve joined and of course all the people I met had an impact on me.
The AEGEEan: Do you currently have a job? How much time do you dedicate to AEGEE?
Right now I’m working a full-time job, but I’m using every free second I have, to deal with my NetCom work and other AEGEE stuff. When I will be elected I will have to resign from my work and I’ll use all my “26 hours” per day only for AEGEE.
For me it’s a really good experience. At my job I can be serious and concentrate at least 9 hours without any breaks. I can be a multi-tasking person and stay positive in every situation.
Can you, please, point out the most relevant aspects of your candidature?
I’m a hard worker who is ready for a new journey. I’m a team-player who is not afraid to lead the team if it’s necessary. And I prefer not to solve the problems but deal with challenges.
Why do you think that you are the best for this position and why should people vote for you?
In my candidature you can see that I prefer Network Director’s tasks which is related to my current AEGEE responsibilities. As NetCom we are working on developing our network in close cooperation with the current Network Director, Holger Schmitt. So I’m familiar with my (possible) tasks in the CD and also I know about the network’s needs. I think now is the best time to do all my best and “rock the network”. In the end I wanna say good luck to all the candidates and see you at AgorAsturias!
Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca