February | 33rd Board

February had its ups and downs. We unfortunately lost Defile as a sponsor, but our lovely Head of External Affairs is putting in the work to make sure we find a new “stamkroeg”. In better news, we had our Half-Year GA, which went surprisingly smoothly! During this GA, we opened Board applications as well - we look forward to seeing all our little tadpoles’ applications 🙂 We were also present at the Bachelor & Master Open Days! Behind the scenes, we’re discussing the code of conduct, which somehow vanished into thin air…

We’re also implementing a biweekly “chill night”, courtesy of the Wellbeing Committee! Every other Tuesday from roughly 6-9 you’ll be able to join your fellow Helix Members to wind down by watching a movie or playing some board games - specifics to be announced before each chill night.

As part of our half-year reflection, we started requesting feedback before and during the GA. If you’d still like to help us out, you can fill out the evaluation form here!

Hello again !

It hasn’t been very long since I had to write a monthly update so I won’t be having much to share unfortunately :/
But starting where I left off last time, I had a very busy week after the carnival vacation. I had been under a lot of stress with both resits, the deadlines for the philosophy report, the deadlines for the project protocol and the deadlines for the half-year report and the half-year report GA. So that weekend where everything died down and I finally had time to relax, my body crashed out and I got sick. Mysteriously, this sickness has been going around in the board, but don’t worry I finally recovered. Although, I had to take a bit of time for myself.

In the meantime, I was able to see a few friends here and there and it was really nice seeing them again and spending time with them. It reminded me of how important it is to have quality time with your friends. And it also helps very much to make your day and mood brighter 😊

Finally, I am more than halfway through my new book, and it is very hard to put down. It is about the countess Erzsébet Báthory of Hungary who was rumoured to have murdered multiple young women and to have bathed in their blood. In this book, you follow a young woman called Boróka, working in the countess’ castle. You see how the servant girls were treated and the countess’ panick as the king of Hungary, Matthias II and his palatine, Thurzo, prepare to arrest the countess for killing noble women. It is based on historical events. I recommend this book if the story interests you, it’s “The Nightingale’s Castle” by Sonia Velton.

See you next month!
Alta <3 𓆏

Hi all,

The month of love is over… but as you all know, I’m happily married to the grind, so let’s get into it.

February was a very busy month, since we had the Half-Year GA. This means I was busy completing last GA’s minutes, updating the HR and SR, writing the motions, and compiling everything for the invitation. Oh, and don’t forget keeping track of proxies! GA time is a very busy time. Now that it’s over, I can finally focus on other tasks, like completing this GA’s minutes. Other than that, I fulfilled the very important task of supporting my Board members by attending some coordinator meetings on Mar’s behalf.

Because I’ve been so busy, I haven’t really been up to anything fun lately, but I did get Invisalign! I hope my lisp didn’t bother you all too much during the GA, haha. It’s slowly getting better though, unlike my health, which took a nosedive for the worse. A mystery illness has slowly been picking off Board members one by one - maybe we won’t even make it to the end of our term. Very serious stuff.

I’m extremely excited for spring to start. Not only because I have some exciting things planned, but also because I’m really craving some nicer weather. Luckily we’ve had some really nice days recently! Here’s to more good weather in the upcoming days.

Always yours,
Nalin <3

Helloooo,

I am happy to announce you that I am fine, alive, and not in a bad mood anymore! Do you remember my January monthly update when I explained that I did not find any internship, that I hated my project, and that nothing was okay…. Yes, “J’ai pété un cable” as we say in French. But I AM BACK WITH AN INTERNSHIP. And even better, I got one at FHML, so I will not have to take the train every day. Your lovely treasurer is going to be graduated this year (if she passes her thesis, but let’s panic for this later). The topic is not my favourite but still very interesting. In short, it is about the effect of plant sterols and stanols, and their cholesterol-lowering characteristics in individuals with liver disease. About my project, since it is mostly about programming, in which I have no skills at all, I’m very lost. However, I understand more and more about genetics, which is already a huge improvement since the first week of this course!

Let’s discuss a bit about my position within Helix. The first half of the year as a treasurer has been quite chill. Indeed, I think this position is perfect for me, because I love being flexible and organise my week as I want to. Of course, I have some meetings already scheduled, such as the BM or committee meetings, but the majority of my work can be done at any time and alone. So far, I managed to finish my bookkeeping on time, and we haven’t got bankrupt, so I think it is good. Getting money from the sponsors is another story, but I they won’t get away with it so easily without paying 😈.

The weather was so nice this week! I hope you went outside and enjoyed some Vitamin D. I would like to finish my monthly update by a small question: does your mood also change depending on the weather? For me, it does, it’s as if I’m coming back to life after a long period of intense cold, strong winds, and rain. So, get some fresh air every day especially when the sun is shining, it is important!

Thank you if you read until the end, love u <3

Anyways, love you!

The time comes and goes, flying by. It only feels like yesterday that I took the position of Head of Education, but now I barely have 100 days left here. However, it’s been quite a busy month. The budget proposal was sent to the financial department, to get the SEPs paid; we met with the Board of Examiners to help shape policy on the use of Generative AI in the correction of exams; and many many meetings happened. However, everything seems to be shaping up nicely, and hopefully the year will end without much drama! As you may have heard, we’re looking for new Board Members! The Head of Education position is highly rewarding, so if you’re interested in looking at the UM’s cogwork, you should apply!

On a more personal note, I’ve started training (maybe a bit too late) for a 65 km bicycle race I’m participating in late April. It is tough, but very worth it, especially with this really nice and warm weather. The upcoming month of April is building up to be quite busy for me, with the start of the internship, the Honours graduation, the race, the Helix Gala (you should join!), and a programming competition right at the end. However, I am eagerly awaiting it.

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a great love month. For me, it went by really slow because a lot of things happened. Thankfully I did not have any resits, so I went home during the Carnival break. I absolutely hate the Carnival. I may be biased because I live in the center, so basically this whole party comes to me instead of me going to it and I don't like that. However, I have learned my lesson from last year after staying here "out of curiosity" and just left the country this time :). While I was back in Romania, I was lucky enough to see 50cm snow for almost every day. I genuinely thought my flight would get cancelled and that I will not make it back to Maastricht soon😂. Sadly, I made it back and now I'm here.

Anyways, APPLY FOR A BOARD POSITION PLEAAASEEEEEE. Thank you🥰

Hello again,

The month of February started with the question we’ve all asked ourselves: "Yellow, black? Yellow, black? Yellow, black? Ooh, black and yellow! Let’s shake it up a little."

This month, I decided to finally break the 9 to 5 grind at Helix and head outside the hive. My parents wanted me to stay in "Stirring" or maybe "Pouring," but I have a higher calling. I’m the Head of External Affairs, and there’s a whole world out there, mostly consisting of giant humans, fast-moving "insects" with four wheels, and a lot of very confusing flowers.

I hit the blue sky. I was "thinking bee" the whole time. I successfully negotiated a truce with a tennis ball (though the aerodynamic properties were questionable) and avoided a harrowing encounter with a rolled-up newspaper.

But the real breakthrough? I made contact with Vanessa. From a simple conversation starter “do u like jazz??”, it turns out, all the others have been taking our hard-earned assets for years without a proper contract.

I Successfully identified that "rain" is actually quite heavy when you’re this size. Also formed a preliminary partnership with a human (Note: She’s much nicer than the guy with the shoes). And finally, Initiated a formal inquiry into why humans are putting our product in jars with cute little labels.

In the end it doesn’t even matter. The hive is safe, the honey is flowing, and I’m still wearing this sweater. We’re doing more than just making honey; we’re making a statement. According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way I should be able to get this much paperwork done in a month—but I did it anyway.