I had a choice. What about others?

On February 7th, Student Parliament 1 took place, in which a discussion occurred about having Norwegian language as a prerequisite for students who want to run for AU. The requirement to have level B2 Norwegian language proficiency as an AU member candidate and Norwegian as the working language in AU is going to be decided on March 7th during Student Parliament 2.

Written by: Nisha Jha

I wish to grab every student's attention on a specific point illuminated many times in Student Democracy: “Everyone is part of student democracy”.  

By “everyone”, we mean students regardless of culture, religion, age, language when they chose to attend NMBU.

With passing of the rule as a requirement, we will be eliminating 1/5th of the population of students to run for the position. Though we pride ourselves with democracy being open for everyone, this change will exclude an important mass of students. This requirement may be contagious at a faculty level, which could further create a stronger sense of separation between Norwegians and Internationals, something we're trying so hard for so long to break down.

At the beginning of my studies, a former AU member presented student democracy, and it fascinated me to learn how it worked at NMBU compared to my experience in Nepal. “It is YOU as a student who decides who will represent you”. 

I got nominated and chose to run for the election. The only thing that I knew was that I would represent diversity and work for the benefit of all NMBU students. I am an international student with no knowledge of the language. I reconfirmed if I could run and, with no barrier, I ran and got elected.

I had a choice. I chose to take this responsibility. I invited myself to the battle. 

Since day one, I felt that this job was different. This is not just fun, but a really important position, as we work closely with the campus to ensure that the voices of students are always heard. I acknowledge all the hardship with the job AU demands, and I recognize the barriers I had, language being first. I also came in without knowledge of working in an organization, and my different cultural upbringing became a major challenge as well. 

Being the corona-student, I didn't know the names of different campus buildings, Norwegian ministers and political parties. I worked hard and learned about these things along with the language because it was important for every single aspect of my job. If I was fluent in Norwegian, I would be able to work more independently. But none of this stopped me from working with my team and striving to excel in my responsibilities. 

I would like to thank Ina, Vegard, Elisabeth for being patient with me and helping me learn. Thanks to everyone who welcomed this change and worked with me to fulfill my duties.

I don’t believe language is a barrier if the person elected is equipped with the required resources, tools, organizational knowledge, and most importantly, the spirit to work for and represent all of the students of NMBU. 

This raises a question: Is it something that is wrong with the candidates or the system?

I believe this responsibility should be open for all the students who have the passion within themselves, and it should not only be limited to the language barrier the candidate might face. 

I request the discussion to be continued in every possible way around this case and welcome everyone to think where we want to lead student democracy at NMBU to. 

5 steps ahead or 5 steps back for internationalization?