Singh looks back with much gratitude: “I experienced this U!REKA journey as very positive. It was an emotional period, which began three years ago with the establishment of the U!REKA Student Council. During that time, I was given many opportunities, got to know lots of new people, and invested a lot of effort, hours and energy in this project.”

Continued integration

Right from the start, there was a strong focus on creating a shared vision, on the basis of which the USC was able to kick off. “You can’t achieve anything unless everyone is moving in the same direction. So that was an important step to take. And recently we’ve finally developed a structure and workflow that make it easier for us to work together,” explains Singh.

For Singh, the key concern remains the continued integration of the Student Council into the U!REKA narrative: “We are an independent body representing 123,000 students, yet we have no budget, were until now only involved in major decisions at the very last stage, and have no formal way of establishing contacts. But fortunately, the Steering Committee has recognised these issues and steps are being taken to address them.”

What’s in it for me

Singh acknowledges that U!REKA is still quite abstract for many students. “What’s in it for me: we need a convincing answer to that question if we want to get the students engaged. But I believe we are on the right track, with open U!REKA courses, BIPs (Blended Intensive Programmes) and micro-credentials. There is a lot of work to be done to turn all our fellow students into European U!REKA students, but I am fully confident that the newly formed U!REKA Student Council will successfully accomplish this.”