We are headed towards the end of the academic year and with it towards saying goodbye to the FMG council of 2019/2020. The year in which the council made the ‘Let Me Tell You’ exhibition happen, worked intensively on establishing procedure regulations in case of sexual harassment and continued making progress for our sake. And while the votes have been cast for the new FSR-FMG members of 2020/2021, we are not leaving without saying goodbye. In this photocolumn we take a look at the proudest achievements and best memories from the council members, accompanied by a picture with their buisiness mode ON (left) and OFF (right). Enjoy!

Alexandra
I am proud of everything we accomplished together so far and looking forward to the new projects to follow with the new FSR. One of the best memories will always be the day of our photoshoot and the official first day of taking over the council’s office.

Viktoriia
I honestly cannot choose the best memory from my council year. It was filled with unforgettable emotions and moments. I am thankful to everybody who has created this experience for me and was there to support when times would get difficult. I am proud to be a part of such a great community and, moreover, positively contribute to the improvement of our university!

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Ana Mar

One of my favourite memories of being a FSR-FMG member are actually my committee meetings! It is funny because they are part of the official work but I sincerely had the loveliest committee and we always combined hard work and lots of fun, we helped each other out and created nice projects together.

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Teun

My favorite memory of the council is of a discussion about sexual harassment during the second day of representatives (an event for which student representatives across the faculty are invited to discuss important issues). It was very nice to see so many people sharing ideas that could really help others.

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Tom
My favorite memory is the evaluation weekend we had at the end of February. We learnt from each other, came to a better understanding of one another and on top of that we had the best time. I always look back on that experience with a smile.

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Artem
This was a truly amazing year that gave me invaluable experience, extremely worthwhile skills and a whole lot of warm memories. It’s very challenging to highlight a single one or two of them. But I won’t forget those productive and intense meetings with the UvA Executives, I will always remember a feeling of responsibility when you do represent the interest of a whole student population and prioritize that interest over everything else.

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Marc
Providing a short description of the council year is a difficult task because there are so many moments to choose from. The beginning was tough because there were many conventions and mechanisms to learn but after that it became a truly pleasant experience. I worked on files such as finances, sustainability or the FSR FMG policy plan throughout the year and got great skills and experience out of it which I am thankful for. Sadly the year was somehow cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic, however we tried our best to maintain a good working harmony and keep each other motivated which I believe greatly reflects our council as a whole, supportive and compassionate.

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Minou
I think my favorite council achievement was the completion of the Let Me Tell You project and the opening of the exhibition. It was so nice to see something you worked on with people you really admire come to life, because you don’t always see your council achievements in such a tangible way. And I think my favorite ‘non-serious’ council moment was the time when we did a type of ‘crazy 88’ game through the city, which is where this picture came from. It was so nice to get to know my council members on a more personal basis.

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Birgit
The most enjoyable meetings of the week were the committee meetings where we would start with a ‘Empty your heart’ session. These talks evolved from a support group on how to deal with boyfriends, social situations or mental health to talks where our passions in life lie to rants on our deadlines. In short these moments really showed how business can meet fun!

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Nadya
My favourite councilmemories are the SoCo and Evaluationweekend. I had so much fun and learnt a lot during the SoCo month, hiring our council assistants. It feels great to see how qualified the council assistants are and how much effort they put in their work. At the Evaluationweekend we had to work hard, but also had much fun as you can see on the picture.

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Siddarth
At some point during the council year, Birgit would constantly repeat the words “lekker bezig”. One day, a non-Dutch speaker asked for its translation.

This short, but sweet memory was very representative of our year on the council. As the first ever international FSR FMG, it is representative of the change we advocated for in terms of the language policy at our faculty.

Despite the fact that translating this term, like much of the council year, was a very challenging task, I believe that it is a phrase which will remain etched in our minds because of the good laughs trying to translate it brought upon us and how truly representative it is of our council year – good busy / lekker bezig.