Interview with the new SUB president

BTSB interviewed Alex Lyysaari, the president of SUB ry for the term of 2022. In case you didn’t know, SUB is the student organization of the English philology students at the University of Helsinki. We at BTSB are a part of SUB as one of its student clubs.

Let’s meet the new president!

Congratulations on becoming the SUB president! How do you feel about this new position?

Thanks a million! Obviously, I feel super great and humbled.

Could you shortly introduce yourself to our readers?

For sure. I'm Alex. I'm a (basically) normal 29-year-old guy originally from Turku, but I've lived in Helsinki for like six years now. I've already got a degree in Music and now I'm a second-year English student here at the uni. I enjoy playing the guitar, climbing, and petting cats. Cats are the best.

What kind of a history do you have with SUB and/or other student organizations?

My history with SUB and student organizations began in the fall of 2020, during my freshman year. That's when I joined SUB and got elected as the treasurer of SUB for the term of 2021. Now I'm the president of SUB and I also serve on the board of Humanisticum. So that escalated quickly, but it may escalate further in the future...

What is the role of student organizations such as SUB in the student life in your opinion?

Student organizations are of ultimate importance to students since they are the voice of students, and out of all organizations at the uni they are the closest ones to students. If there are any problems in anything related to student life, a student organization will probably be the first one to take them on. They also make a lot of fun things happen, e.g. parties, get-togethers, sitsit, clubs, friendly connections... That's important, ain't it?

How has that role changed during the covid-19 pandemic? What is the meaning of student organizations in a situation where much of student life has been under restrictions?

I don't think the role of student organizations has changed much during the pandemic. We in SUB try to keep things going normally as much as possible. Of course, we take restrictions very seriously but other than that our responsibilities and goals have not changed even though the execution of some of our plans have slowed down.

What are your expectations for your term as the president? Anything in particular you want to achieve?

I intend to keep up the good spirit of SUB. This year I want to pay extra attention to the well-being of our students. The last couple of years have been tough so I hope we can be there for our fellow SUBbers and hear how they are doing, feeling and managing. Otherwise, we're just going to keep being visible and transparent (a contradiction if any), and easily approachable.

Can you give examples of how to pay more attention to the well-being of students?

We're gonna do some questionnaires to find out what people are troubled by and then move on from that. But of course, in addition to that, we're just gonna plan a lot of events to which everyone should feel welcomed.

Lastly, give us an immortal quotation to remember you by!

Yeah? Well, you know, that's just like, uh, your opinion, man.

Thank you, Alex, and good luck on your term!