Very cool, but extremely frightening. That is how Björn Sanders describes the feeling of soon assuming the position as chairperson of Lund University Student Unions Association, LUS. Together with Jack Senften, he will be the new voice of the students, and Lundagård have met them both for an in-depth interview.
Today, Björn Sanders is chairperson for the Student Union at LTH, and his new colleague Jack Senften is vice-chairperson for the Social Sciences Student Union. But not for long. On 1 July, they both take place in the presidium of Lund University Student Unions Association. Björn as chair-person and Jack as his vice-chairperson.
But it does not seem to have taken long for the two to get used to their roles. When Lundagård meet them, they lark about and laugh.
“Haha! Three criminals and two ABBA-members”, Björn shouts to Jack, pointing at a poster from the sixties depicting the co-workers at Lundagård at the time.
The atmosphere is far from stiff and reserved – which bodes well for the coming year, when Björn and Jack will represent the students of Lund together.
“Jack and I work well together, but we do not agree on every subject. Which I think is good. We should be able to discuss things and look at them from different angles, but still have a good social environment”, Björn Sanders says.
Different backgrounds
The two differ in other ways as well. During the interview, Björn is donning a neat blazer and chinos, while Jack is wearing a hoody and a pair of jeans.
Björn Sanders has done three years in the MSc in Engineering, with specialisation in industrial economy. He has a great interest in organisation and leadership, which emerged already during secondary school when Björn started an e-sport association with his class mates.
“In my natural science class, we were a whole group of people who played a lot of computer games, so we started an association. I learnt a lot from that.”
Jack Senften has had a somewhat more crooked path to the University. He dropped out of secondary school during his second year, and has since upped his grades at Österlen University College.
“I am very pleased with my decision today. My high school in Malmö was very messy, and I had motivational problems. The assembly line principle, where knowledge is thrown at you, did not suit me.”
All in all, Jack Senften has 90 credits in various social sciences subjects. Previously, he studied at the Bachelor Programme in Political Science, but realised that he would rather delve into media and communication studies.
New roles
At the Social Sciences Student Union, Jack Senften has, among other things, worked with coordinating student coverage and student representatives. Björn Sanders has been responsible for managing a larger group of full timers at the Student Union at LTH and has also been in charge of their contacts with other organisations.
Yet both agree that their new roles as leaders for LUS differs a lot from leading a faculty union.
“At LUS, we are just two full timers. It will not be as much hosting of events, trying to recruit active members and so on – you work with people who devote themselves to their faculty unions full time”, Jack Senften says.
Björn Sanders adds:
“We should be a resource to help the faculty unions run their organisation. At LUS, the greatest challenge is coordinating the different unions, with various conditions and opinions, into one gathered voice of the students”, he says.
“The doctoral students are not feeling well”
There are several issues that the new chairperson of LUS wants to raise. Among other things, finding a quality insurance system where the seats of learnings themselves are to find a system to ensure the quality of the programmes. This system will then be evaluated by the Swedish Higher Education Authority, UKÄ.
“If the students can influence what aspects we find important when a programme is evaluated, then we have the opportunity to influence what we think is a good programme. That is the whole purpose of student representation”, Björn Sanders says.
They both hold that the study environment, both the physical and the psycho-social, is a crucial issue. Among other things, more statistics on student health is being requested.
“We have some numbers from my own faculty on doctoral students – and the doctoral students at the Social Sciences Student Union are not feeling very well”, Jack Senften says.
Specifically the general condition of the doctoral students is an issue they feel have been neglected by the University.
“Being a doctoral student is quite an insecure form of education and employment. There is also no real system to govern how courses are designed, applied for and quality ensured when it comes to postgraduate studies”, Björn Sanders says.
“You feel a great reverence”
All these important issues will soon be something that Björn and Jack can influence – something they undoubtedly look forward to.
“You feel a great reverence and respect for the responsibility you have representing students. It is both very cool and exhilarating, but also extremely frightening”, Björn says.
Jack is of the same opinion.
“I feel happiness and pride for what we do, and the trust we have been given. There is a certain weight to living up to that trust, to doing this well. But above all, it is great fun.”
Jack and Björn are also aware of the fact that having big union positions can be a springboard into a career, but play down the importance this has had in their decision to candidate for the LUS presidium.
Björn, for example, holds that he as a future engineer probably will have more use of having been chairperson in the Student Union at LTH than being chairperson for LUS.
“I think that it is rather about what you learn being a springboard. I have learnt more in the past year than during my three years as a civil engineering student”, he says.
“Hard to put into words why I applied”
But when asked why they chose to apply for LUS presidium, Björn and Jack both sigh slightly. It is not the first time they have been given the question and they look around pensively.
“I should have written down an answer to that by now. A lot of people have asked that question. But it is hard to put into words”, Björn Sanders says.
Jack says that he had a long thought process before the decision was made.
“For me, it was not a definitive choice. It must be the interest coming back. I think that what we do at the union is amazing.”
Björn thinks that LUS is a huge – and very cool – organisation. He holds that it is personally developing to be part of managing it.
“You want to continue your commitment and open up for other people’s commitment”, he says.
“Wants to work at the Sci-Fi bookstore”
When it comes to a future career, Björn has quite a plan. Jack’s future is less certain, but on the other hand, he has some clear principles on how to think about one’s career.
“You should do what you find fun. It is a bonus if you are good at it, but you usually are when it comes to things you enjoy. But it is no coincidence that I am here. I like work that has an influence on things.”
But he also has an alternative plan for the future.
“Personally, I think I would have liked working for the Sci-Fi bookstore. That must be nice”, Jack Senften says.
Björn Sanders is more interested in organisation, leadership and logistics than science fiction.
“I have always dreamt of solving something. Solving the public transport problem, the health care problem or the refugee logistics problem. I would like to work with flows and logistics, but maybe rather in those fields than at a large industrial company.
LUS new chairpersons may have different approaches, backgrounds and plans for the future. But when it comes to their commitment for the union and its future, they might not be that different after all.
Björn Harald Sanders
Born: Skarpnäck’s parish, the principality of Stockholm
Lives: Norra fäladen, Lund
Number of ECTS-credits: 180 – three years at the MSc in Engineering, specialising in industrial economy
Income 2014: 12,800 SEK
Stocks 2014: Earned 7,560 SEK
Student debt 31/3 2016: 191,850 SEK
Member of the Church of Sweden: No
Company engagements: None
Military service: None
Marz Jack Senften
Born: Slottsstadens parish, Malmö City
Lives: Kobjärsvången, Lund
Number of ECTS-credits: All in all 90 credits in social science, national economy, media and communications studies and commercial law.
Income 2014: 38,400
Stocks 2014: Lost 60 SEK
Student debt 31/3 2016: 202,185
Member of the Church of Sweden: Yes
Company engagements: None
Military sercive: None
SIX QICK-FIRE QUESTIONS
What political party do you vote for?
Björn: By principle, I stick to my right of secrecy
Jack: Last election, I voted for the Swedish Green Party. I am not very pleased with that vote today. I think it is difficult to find a party that you sympathise fully with ideologically.
Do you believe in God?
Björn: No.
Jack: I believe in some form of “other”. Anything else would be boring. But God as portrayed in the world religions I cannot get behind.
Programmes or individual courses?
Björn: Programmes. I would rather say that a programme gives you the freedom of choice. But I think it is good that there is the option of taking individual courses.
Jack: Individual courses. That way, it is easier to put together an education that suits you.
Lecture at Studentafton or party at the nation?
Björn: Both.
Jack: It depends on what the lecture is about. I think you can do both, and preferably go out with the people in Studentafton to reach additional insights.
Erasmus exchange or study in the USA?
Björn: The USA. Then you get to something completely new, even further away, with new perspectives.
Jack: Erasmus exchange. I have no good reason, it just feels more appealing.
Lunch box or bought meal?
Björn: Cooking is a huge interest of mine, but I also buy my lunches. I think that I have only had a lunch box with my five times in the last year.
Jack: Buying lunch, if you disregard the cost. But I actually like cooking.
Article: Oskar Madunic Olsson
Translation: Carl-William Ersgård
