TL;DR if you don't feel like reading my essay on inclusivity and sustainable work:
We're starting a group for creative work, such as documentation and content creation. We're looking for photographers, illustrators, graphic designers and other creative souls that want to help other functionaries and committees. Everyone is welcome, no matter your age, skill level, or how involved you otherwise are in either of the chapter's activities. If you're interested, fill out the form on the bottom of the page and we'll be in touch.

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Tolvan is home to some of the richest student life that Stockholm has to offer. Between the E chapter and the MiT chapter there are well over a hundred students working for free to make sure that the university experience is more than just studying. There is however currently a clear vacuum in the strategies of both chapters. Who takes the portrait photos of the board members that hang on the wall? Who designs the poster for the gasque with TF? We hope to, with your help, finally fill that gap.

What is this exactly?
Both me (Milad, E-19) and Natthaphong (MiT-19) have been wondering that for a while now. So far, we know that we want to form some sort of group that can help other committees and functionaries with creative work, such as photography during events, or content creation for patches, posters, and social media. Whether this will be in the form of a new committee, a group chat, or a political party we’re not ready to say yet. We’ve intentionally kept the details hazy, as it depends on what the engagement looks like for something like this, and what both chapters think is appropriate. We also thought that it would be reasonable for people who are interested, to actually be able to shape the structure of the group.

I'd like to make clear that despite me being a sitting member of E's board, this endeavor is currently entirely independent from any other part of the chapter. Should we eventually move to create a new committee, it will be held against the same scrutiny at the SM as any other motion.

Why are we doing this?
There are multiple reasons why we came up with this idea to begin with, some may be more obvious than others.

There is clearly a demand for photographers at events, graphic designers for posters, and illustrators for merchandise. We know this because they already exist... sort of. Photos are taken at the spring ball, new posters are put up all the time in Tolvan, and at least once a year some committee is selling a brand-new patch or a graphic t-shirt. The problem is that these people aren’t exactly appointed for the job, and it most likely isn’t their only job in the chapter. Nobody ends up behind the bar because they’re good at taking pictures. Sure, they might do a good job, a great job even. But we can’t be sure that someone is there to take their place when they graduate, or even just feel like moving on and doing something else. And since their attention is divided between not only creative work and studying, but also a whole other job in the chapter, no matter how good of an artist they are, both the quality and quantity of their work will always be compromised. With a group dedicated to these tasks, which often have very little to do with the rest of the committee’s purpose, we can make sure that there will always be people that will happily produce quality content for whatever event, poster, or logo we need them to.

It's important that everyone can take part in student life. On our campus, taking part in it often means the same thing as working with it. That’s why it’s important that as many people as possible feel that they can do good for their chapter on the side of their studies, doing something that they enjoy. For some people, that’s preparing food in for a tentapub, for others, it’s taking pictures during the pub. When I first started studying, I knew I wanted to be involved in the chapter. I came straight from hustling in my upper secondary school’s student union and had acquired a taste for academically connected volunteer work. But it took me a while to find something that I genuinely enjoyed doing. Some of my first positions in the chapter I took on just to have a way into the ranks. If something like this would have existed my first year, then my entire history in the chapter would probably look very different.

When you first start studying you have the luxury of there being many positions that are seemingly tailored to you. ÅRe, Krill, Källarnisse*. There’s a bit of everything. The same thing isn’t necessarily true for someone who, for the first time after four years at Teknis, finally wants to get involved. If you’re not already an insider, it’s hard to know where to begin. That's not how it should be. The doors to the chapter’s activities, and to an extent, student life shouldn’t be closed on you just because you decided to wait a couple of years to take part in it. A position like this, where the work is not only broad but also likely tailored to someone’s already existing interests could be a great way into the chapter, no matter when they decide to start.

As a board member, I get to attend a lot of meetings with the executives at THS, as well as other chapter’s boards. One thing that often comes up in discussions is sustainable work. How do we make sure that people don’t burn themselves out from volunteering at chapters while also studying full time? One takeaway that I unfortunately always leave with is that E and MiT have some of the most overworked functionaries on the entire campus. We have way too few people, that are working way too much during the reception; both chapters suffer from multiple heavy positions being taken by the same person; and strategically aligned positions are often burdened with operational work. If we consider that they, on top of their already heavy workload and studies, are expected to create content for social media and draw elaborate t-shirt designs, it becomes apparent that the work environment we are promoting, is far from sustainable. By off-loading the creative work (which often has little to do with the rest of their position’s purpose) to a new functionary who can focus their attention on just that, both tasks will have better results, and one person won’t have to work themselves to death trying to do everything. We don’t need people doing more things, we need more people doing things.

There is obviously a lot of creative talent in the chapter. Most committees and functionaries are, as mentioned previously, already managing their own creative output. And it can turn out great. Sometimes they do it themselves, but often they outsource it to someone in one of the chapters who actually knows what they're doing. But it’s almost impossible to find these people when they aren’t given space to showcase their abilities. I find it hard to believe that anyone in the chapter knew that I knew anything about graphic design before I started making posters for the election committee. So, if anything, see this initiative as a creative outlet for those of us that need a break from studying under an otherwise very fixed-form curriculum, or as a bulletin board for those of us that want to lend a helping, creating hand to the chapters.

What happens next?
This interest form serves as a first step towards our final goal. The point of it is simply to find Tolvan’s hidden talents. To see who wants to do what, so that we can start to think about what the next step should be. Eventually, you’ll hear back from us. We’ll summon a meeting, where we’ll go a little more into detail about what the plan is, and discuss the structure of the group, and also talk a little bit about our previous creative endeavors.

If it sounds like you’ve found the right place, then great! I hope you’re excited to join us on this journey. If not, we’d appreciate it if you’d tell a friend about us.

Lost of love.

(* I know that Källarnisse is a position open to everyone regardless of year, but unfortunately the general impression seems to be that it is first-years only. Love u KG <3)