National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences – SAMOK’s Board for 2025 was elected last Friday 1.11. in Jyväskylä at General Assembly. Tamko’s current Chairperson of the Board Julia Väänänen was elected president of the Union.
Julia says that her interest in advocacy work sparked in a certain way already as a teenager. During the parliamentary elections, she remembers watching the election debates in frustration and thinking that someone should do something. Until recent years, she was, in her own words, a political nerd until she started being the one who does something about things.
When Julia got to TAMK to study nursing, she was lured to become a tutor and as a result, she ended up applying for Tamko’s Board as well. While working in the Board, advocacy work took her away. Although Julia did advocacy work in her own sector in tutoring, she felt that the passion for advocacy work was even greater and eventually applied for the position of the Chairperson of the Board. As Chairperson, Julia knew she had more resources for local advocacy work, meetings and directing the Students’ Union.
As Chairperson this year Julia has really gotten to work. Among other things, she has had the opportunity to meet the management of the City of Tampere, she has been a student member of TAMK’s Board and acted as the face of Finland’s largest and oldest student union. However, hunger increases when eating, and advocacy on a national level interested Julia. Anger at the students’ poor situation drove Julia to stand as a candidate for SAMOK so that she herself could do something about the students’ situation nationwide.
Julia’s candidate campaign was carried out in full flame for three months with the help of the campaign team. The key themes of her campaign were the corageous and solution-oriented SAMOK, the unified UAS student movement and the truly accessible SAMOK. And the General Assembly gave its blessing to these themes when it elected Julia as President for the Union.
Julia’s upcoming role as President of SAMOK will begin next year. “I don’t promise the moon from the sky, but I promise to give my everything for the student movement.” Students are going through difficult times and advocacy is needed more than ever. In Julia’s words, change is possible!
If you are interested in advocacy, community spirit and advocacy work and you want to be the one who does something about things like Julia, apply for Tamko’s Board. Julia also encourages new potential applicants:
‘If you feel like you want to work for our students, Tamko offers you a great opportunity to do that. Tamko offers good opportunities to learn and grow into advocacy work and you don’t have to be a political nerd beforehand. Genuine interest and motivation to learn is enough.”
Read Julia’s Presidential candidate speech below:
“Thank you Chairperson, hyvä liittokokousväki, Bästa förbundsmöte, dear General Assembly.
When I moved to Tampere three years ago to study nursing, I imagined that I would complete my degree at an accelerated pace and move on with life. Soon, however, I was attracted to the activities of the Student Union Tamko, and I stayed on that path – first as a peer tutor, then as a Board member and most recently as the Chairperson of the Students’ Union. During this time, I have been able to try, fail, try again, and above all, grow as a lobbyist and as a leader.
In all my activities, I have been driven by the aim of equality between students, the goal of bringing activities closer to students and the need to build a strong community.
Dear members of the General Assembly. We live in worrying times. Students are doing worse than ever. According to very recent KOTT survey results, students’ confidence in the future has plummeted as many as a quarter have feared that they will run out of food and up to a fifth have compromised on buying medicines. And most worryingly: UAS students seem to experience difficulties in making ends meet even more often than University students. It should also be mentioned that this study was carried out in the spring, when all the cuts to livelihoods were not even in force.
Dear Student Union actors. The time for speeches about the significance of students and education is now over. The need for concrete measures to restore and promote students’ livelihoods and well-being is urgent. It must be understood that solving such massive problems will not happen in a year or two, but it will take time for changes to become visible.
Next year, we will face several critical turning points for students, and we must succeed in advocacy work. Mid-term review, municipal elections, regional elections. We must approach these boldly, as the voice of UAS students. I am ready to work hard as the President of SAMOK, lead the Union with humility but fearlessness, and so that the voice of as many UAS students as possible is heard.
Dear friends. We live in worrying times, but we must not give up. I believe and trust that change is possible. Activities that are accessible to all, where the unified, bold and solution-oriented voice of the entire student movement carries far away, will help to go far. The impressive student movement has been built for decades and is needed now, more than ever. I do not promise the moon from the sky, but I promise to give this student movement and UAS students my all. This is why I want to be the President of the Finnish Union of Students SAMOK.
Kiitos. Tack. Thank you.”