Interviewing Sub's New President

Helsinki is quite cold this time of year, but I’m trying to ignore the biting wind as I drag my feet on the streets of Kallio. I’m on my way to interview Sub’s brand-new president, Oliver. You may recognise him as an active member of Sub’s board in the previous years and now as one of BTSB’s own editors, but today you’ll get to read about him and what he has to say about the upcoming year.

Well then, let’s get started.
Hello and congratulations for being elected as Sub’s new president! How are you feeling now that you’ve gotten started?

Thank you very much! It’s been busy so far, but it’s been fun. We have a great group of people on the board and working with them will definitely make this year worth it. So overall I’m feeling hopeful and positive despite being so busy.

That sounds lovely! The positivity will definitely help with balancing the busy schedule. Now, could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

I’m a third-year English student and I’m hoping to finish my bachelor’s thesis this spring. In addition to that I’m an avid football fan, and I enjoy playing video games and listening to music. And I love being a part of a community that cares for each other.

Couldn’t agree more, communities like that are important. Speaking of communities, could you tell us about your history with Sub? What kinds of things have you done at the organisation before this year?

I’ve been on the board since 2024, so this is my third year in a row. I started out as one of the freshers and tutors coordinators, and on top of that I was the sports and recreation rep with our former president Luukas. Then in 2025, when Luukas took on the presidency, I took up the post of vice president to support him. This year I decided to try out for the presidency to follow in his footsteps. And I’ve been in almost every single one of the committees we have under Sub.

Wow, plenty of experience, then! After all of that, what inspired you to apply for the presidency?

I kind of fast-tracked the whole thing to be honest. During my first year on the board, I was heavily encouraged to try out to become the vice president, so I did. During that year I did some thinking and planning ahead for what the rest of my studies would look like, and after the vice presidency, it kind of made sense to apply for the presidency next.

That makes sense. But you do have quite the year ahead of you. Can you tell me how is Sub handling the challenges caused by HYY selling most of their student facilities? And what other kinds of challenges do you think you will be facing this year?

We are keeping our finger on the pulse, but what the loss of our facilities really means in practice is still quite up in the air. For now what I can say is that we have events planned out for the spring term while we’re still at New Student House, so our members get to enjoy the time we still have left with the place Sub has called home for all these years. After that, we will see what the move entails and how that will affect us in the autumn term, but we’re trying to take a solution-based approach to everything, rather than focusing on problems.

That’s a relief. It must be challenging to be in such a state of uncertainty. But to balance that, what kinds of goals have you set for Sub and what kinds of opportunities do you think we can expect?

It is quite a challenging situation to be put in, but our goals on that front are to stay financially afloat and to navigate the move to our new facilities in a way that is as beneficial to our members as possible. and do what is best for our members. We will always work with the benefit of our members in mind. Overall, we’ll try to leave the situation better than we found it. In terms of opportunities, the National Meeting of English Students, NMES, will be held in Helsinki this year and Sub is in charge of organising it. Such an event is of course both a challenge and a great opportunity, but we have a great committee in charge of planning it so that’s something to look forward to. As for the autumn term, we’ll have to see what opportunities arise when we get there, we cannot really plan for it or foresee what that might be like because of the unprecedented circumstances we are currently navigating.

Understandable. Now, what do you think Sub’s role is in our daily student life? What is your mission?

I think the role of any student organisation is to bring some balance to studying, because studying can be kind of boring or hard or overwhelming. Student events give us something to look forward to and provide a space for friends to meet up without the stress of organising anything on top of their own schedules. And as long as people keep showing up, Sub will keep providing events and activities for its members. We’re not making miracles but the board will try to keep Sub rolling and wherever needed and possible, make it better.

Events are definitely valuable for our members’ wellbeing. What do you think will be the best thing about your role as president?

So far the best thing has been getting to know everyone on the board and working with them. The people make it all worth it. That being said, being on the board means that we do a lot of work that we don’t necessarily get instant gratification for, but I look forward to the end of the year, when we get to look back at all that the board and our officials have accomplished and get to enjoy the fruits of our labour.

Last but not least, please give us a quote you would like to be remembered by.

It be how it do sometimes.

Truly. Now, I would like to thank you for sitting down with me for this interview. It’s time for me to pack my stuff and head back into the biting cold of the February evening, but I, along with the rest of BTSB, hope you have a productive and fun term ahead of you. We wish you the best of luck!

The cover image belongs to Oliver Ekblad