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by Michael Stafeev
Well, it is the end… I mean for me. School has almost ended. My duties in the Student Council have come to an end as well. However, I really want to leave something after myself, some kind of “legacy.” I have faithfully served in the SC for four years and I am pretty sure I do have some advice to give and some things to tell to the future generations of the Council, to our descendants.
First of all, it is going to be hard. You will have to really designate your time to the SC. You will have times when Mrs. Anna will be upset with you, when your mates will be upset with you, and even moments when you will be upset with everyone. However, it is within your abilities to learn from the sad moments and increase the amount of fun and happy moments while you are at work. Also remember—all of the roles and positions in the Council matter. All of them have different challenges and rewards. But the more you learn from me and the legacies of my colleagues—the better you will do when you become part of the Student Council.
For two years I have served as Head of the Finance Committee and for one year as the Manager of Logistics. For this reason, I will speak about these two roles in the SC.
As the Head of the Finance Committee, you have to be everywhere and know everything. All things in this world are made and done with the help of money – and SC is not an exception. You have to be in contact with every committee and with every member of the Council. You should be able to wisely control money since you will be responsible for organizing, earning, spreading, and designating the funds. Moreover, since the amount of activities done by the Student Council during the last few years has increased quite a bit, you have to deal with large amounts of money, and if you make mistakes, you will definitely have problems. This is why if you are not sure you can handle such a responsibility – don’t take it! However, if you really want to be the person that holds all the SC money and in fact controls the work of all other committees – you definitely need to remember the following advice:
Advice For The Head Of The Finance Committee
Learn how to work with Microsoft Excel. I mean actually LEARN. You will have to deal with a lot of different tables and graphs and you will have to know how to build them properly. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube that show you how to master Excel.
MAKE NOTES! Believe my grim experience – it is impossible to hold everything in your head. You will have to contact many different people, send and get money to and from different SC members, spread them between committees and so on – and taking notes ALL THE TIME will help you in managing all of the things in your head.
Have a bank card. In Russia, you can have your own bank card at the age of 14, so visit an office of Sberbank or any other bank and make one for yourself, and learn to handle the online account on the app. Because you will have to send money back and forth all the time and it is much easier to keep and control it online – a bank card is an important and practical tool for you to use.
CHECK everything. Handling money is not easy and it requires a lot of responsibility, so if you forgot something or you are just not sure about something – check it. Believe me – it is better to check information a few times and do everything properly than not to check it and make some expensive mistakes.
THINK in the “money way.” Distributing and keeping money are just two of your many tasks, however the most important one is EARNING money. This is why you need to constantly be thinking of how to make money. The more ideas for fundraising you have – the more prosperous the Student Council will be!
Be attentive and careful. The worst thing you can do is give money to the wrong person or accidentally lose it somewhere. This is why you always need to be attentive to your actions and always use advice number 2 to minimize any risks and silly mistakes.
Be confident. Most likely, there will be moments when you will have to literally walk around school and “beat money out of people” - it is a joke we used, of course, you never beat or coerce anyone, but reminding a few times and coming to inquire again, these are the things that come with the job. However, do not be scared. The more confident and persistent you are – the better you will do in your job!
Don't Make These Mistakes!
Unfortunately, all jobs have some sad parts in them. Also, all people tend to make mistakes. This is why I want to share some examples of mistakes I made during my years in the Student Council.
I did not know how to use Excel! Sometimes this frustrated Mrs. Anna, and some of my friends even needed to redo some things I didn’t quite finish… So don’t be like me and use my Advice no. 1!
In the beginning, I was a bit too self-confident and I did not take any notes. However when I suddenly started to forget many things I should have done I taught myself to always take notes and this habit really helped me keep track of information.
I lost some money. It was during one of our Asian snacks and merch sales. I ordered everything, calculated the spendings, calculated the expected profit and then… it just did not work out! The difference between the expected profit and our actual profit was radical, I did not understand what happened, and to be honest I do not know what happened that day even now… Nevertheless, I learned to be even more attentive to money and even more careful with my calculations!
You can find exact information on the role of Treasurer in the SC Constitution. However, my future descendant, do not hesitate to use my advice and most importantly – believe in yourself. Remember – you can achieve anything!
Logistics Manager
Now let us talk about the position that was introduced in the SC just this last year (2019-2020) – Logistics Manager. I actually started working in this position even before it was officially named. However, only during my last year was I able to dive into it completely.
As I mentioned earlier, all of the roles in the Council are not easy tasks and will require your time and dedication. The Logistics Manager is not an exception. Let me briefly tell you what this person does. Do you remember the merch? Or the presents for our lovely teachers on the Teachers’ day? All of these products had to be acquired. And before you actually buy them, you have to find where to order them from. This is why the tasks of the Logistics Manager are:
Brainstorming with the rest of the SC for new fundraising ideas as well as ideas for gifts, decorations - all that is involved in the SC projects.
Checking numerous websites of different companies to find the one place that will meet all your product requirements.
Contacting these companies – writing a LOT of emails (while doing the last merch campaignI wrote over 100 emails) and making multiple phone calls.
Sometimes visiting the companies’ offices in order to see products firsthand, sign papers, or make payments.
Discussing the designs for the things you will need to order with the SC team.
Staying in touch with the school designer so that they send you the layout of the product.
Sending the layout to the company, asking and answering different questions and finalizing the exact product you are ordering.
Staying in touch with the Treasurer to send you the money when payments need to be made, getting ok on the expenses from the Executive Committee.
Paying for the product.
Anxiously and nervously waiting and praying that there will not be any mistakes. Organizing the pick-ups.
Finally controlling the sales process or other ways of distributing the product.
Advice For Logistics Manager
Sounds crazy, right? Yes, you will have to manage ALL of these tasks. So here is some more advice from me on what to expect:
Be ready to TALK and WRITE a lot. As I have mentioned, the process of communicating with the company can be quite long.
Be sure that the Head of the Finance Committee aka Treasurer is your good friend because you will be working very closely together most of the time.
It will also be great if you know Russian since most of the companies you will be in contact with will be using Russian as their primary language of communication.
Do not hesitate to CALL. I understand it can feel quite awkward sometimes, but believe me – calling will help you save a lot of your time. Speaking with a person is much faster than texting them.
Ask questions! You will be dealing with large amounts of money and even a small mistake can cost you and the whole Student Council hundreds of thousands of rubles.
Do not be scared to prove your point and argue about some topics. Remember – the customer is always right!
Although the process of ordering things will always bring something new to you, I am sure that using my advice will help you as well.
"Customer Is Always Right"
Now, in order to tell you a little bit more about the “customer is always right” rule, I will tell you a story about the last merch we ordered. The process of communication this time was extremely long and all of the deadlines were broken completely.
Finally, one day the hoodies and the totes arrived, but they had some very noticeable mistakes on them. The print on some of the hoodies was cracking and the straps on the totes were too short. I was not yet ready for arguments with the company, but with kind help of Mrs. Anna we were able to get new totes and a couple of new hoodies almost for free! This is why we were able to pay less, but get about 30% more products than we originally ordered. For this reason, go back to use the advice I gave you and be sure – you are right.
Wow, Student Council was a crazy, fun, and extremely educational part of my life. I have met a lot of wonderful people whom I will never forget. I was pleased to be part of such a wonderful team that changed the meaning of “Student Council” in our school forever. THANK YOU, guys! I am sure we did a great job together!
Future SC members, presidents, secretaries, treasurers, logistics managers and others – good luck! I know it is not going to be easy. I know you will have many hard moments. However, together you are able to achieve anything! Remember – you are the Student Council of the International School of Tomorrow. You are all capable of reaching your goals. Always strive for the best and keep in your heart these very important and meaningful words – we are one, but many!