Earlier this week, the blog was visited by Rebecca Linderholm who talked about her experiences of being a student representative. Today it is Matilda Byström's turn. She talks about her experiences as a student representative, what she wished she knew before and why student representatives are so important.
Hi Matilda! What is your role as a student representative?
I am a student representative in a reference group for a government investigation into nursing and midwifery education in Sweden. The investigation will partly produce proposals on how Sweden should work to meet requirements, such as time frame, that currently exist at EU level. It will also look at how our education, together with healthcare, will meet the future skills needs within Sweden's healthcare system.
During the spring, I also sat on a similar group for a study that looked at how Swedish universities, among others, view the VFU activities within our nursing programs. Very exciting things, in other words!
What have you learned during your mission?
As a student representative, you learn things all the time! Everything from new advances in the field you work in, to gaining insight into how different organizations work. I think what I have learned the most about during the many student representative assignments I have had is how to work with people. Something that is useful in all contexts.
What is the best thing about being a student representative?
That you can really influence. And not only that you have the opportunity, but that as a student you have such unique perspectives on different issues, perspectives that no one else from, for example, academia or business has. These perspectives can really make such a big difference in different processes and decisions and it's awesome that I as a student can contribute to that, precisely because I am a student.
What might a typical meeting look like?
At the moment, most of it is done through digital forums, like Zoom or Teams. That's pretty much how it is everywhere right now. We meet for a few hours and often the meetings within these types of assignments are a bit more like workshops. We have a few core questions for each time we meet. And then we turn and twist these questions together. We don't always have to agree, assignments within investigations and the like are more about collecting different perspectives on things, and that makes it very rewarding. It's a very lively way of working!
Why are student representatives needed?
As I mentioned before, we students have completely unique perspectives. Often, only the student representative(s) in the room have those perspectives and I cannot emphasize enough how important they are! So many decisions and processes affect us students and affect our time at our universities. Of course, we must then be part of these processes and decisions. Otherwise, it will be as if the decisions are made partly blindly. We are one of the most important actors in developing higher education, and everything that concerns it, in the right direction.
Anything you wish you knew before applying?
I've been a student representative for a bit too long now haha. But I think what I would have liked to have known before my very first assignment is that being a student representative is incredibly challenging, in many ways. But what you get out of it when you get through the challenges is absolutely fantastic.
I have grown so much as a person by being a student representative, and I probably wasn't prepared to do that to that extent. Of course, it's impossible to know that before you've waded through a few bumps along the way, but I think I would have had a really strong drive there at the beginning if I had known where it would take me.
Student representatives are found both at the universities and at the national level. Every year, SFS nominates student representatives to various national bodies. Are you interested in becoming a student representative? All student representative assignments are published here. Read previous blogs with student representatives here.