Today’s Annual General Meeting held by ELSA means that Bernice Saliba’s role as President of the organisation is practically coming to an end. The Third Eye team spoke to Bernice Saliba about her experience within ELSA as its President, the challenges she faced and the great memories made with the Executive of 2016/2017.
What was your biggest challenge during the time you served as ELSA Malta President?
I inherited ELSA Malta after a successful year, the challenge was therefore to maintain the momentum while simultaneously facing situations that might have not been previously there and having to take decisions re for instance events that were usually a hit but were met with a different kind of interest. The first few months of my tenure were the most demanding as we (myself and my team) had to find a balance between following in the footsteps of previous boards but simultaneously create our own path. On a personal level it was juggling my thesis (which I’m still writing), full time prattika and 24/7 of ELSA Malta.
What is your best experience/memory from your time involved in ELSA Malta?
My time as Head of Logistics in the ICM, the 2016-2017 planning weekend, the ELSA goes to Budapest trip, coordinating and publishing Project Jurisprudence Book 1, organizing the last two ELSA Days alongside other ELSA Malta team members, and experiencing my term as a President of ELSA Malta with the group of people in this year’s board. The hard work each of them put in made the experience more worthwhile. Finally it is having our work as ELSA Malta recognized over and over again.
What has ELSA Malta taught you?
That a group of bright motivated people who support each other can do a lot of work together, and not just any work, but produce something which is of really good quality. It has taught me that support is essential, if you have no support you will burn out and you cannot give your utmost, if not support in another person, you need to have something which keeps you going. Finally, it has also taught me to keep pushing forward and to get the job done, it will get hard, you will feel like giving up, but you must finish what you set out to do.
What are your emotions now that your experience within ELSA Malta is coming to an end?
The feeling is a positive one. ELSA Malta has taught me a lot and I am happy knowing that there are many people motivated to continue to build up on the work that we did. I feel honoured to have been part of an organization such as ELSA Malta, to have been given the opportunity, the support and the trust to head a team of people, in an organization that tackled academic issues, issues of national policies, human rights issues, and gave the student an array of experiences for them to learn from. I leave ELSA Malta feeling grateful.
What is your advice to those who are still hesitant on whether or not to get involved in a student organisation?
During my time at University, I have been involved not just in ELSA Malta but I also served in AEGEE Valletta for 2 years (2011-2013) and Y4TE for a year (2014-2015). I got involved in organisations because I always took an interest in my surroundings and the environment I form part of and I have found myself to love coordinating and seeing a project come to life. I believe that whether in a student organisation or not, it is crucial for people to involve themselves and to have a say. Disinterest and mindless compliance bring nothing good. So even though not everyone may be suited for being in an organisation or would even want to be, it does not mean that these people should not involve themselves, but that they should do so in a different manner best suited for themselves.
Lastly Bernice Saliba expressed her gratitutude towards all the helping hands and supportive people throughout her experience: “Thank you The Third Eye for this interview, thank you to all the organisations I was involved with and a thank you to all the people I met along the way.”
