Gustav Eichstädt

In the past year, having served as a House Committee member for Pieke has taught me an incredible amount about myself and discovered things I never knew I was capable of. However, I do not feel that I am finished with my journey of personal growth. This year has given me a taste of what can be learnt through pushing your limits and what an enjoyable journey that can be.

In the next year I want to take on more learn more about myself and hopefully in the process put so much more back into our community. The sense of community and brotherhood that Pieke creates has always been something that drew me in and made me remain involved in the community and I want to ensure that this feeling can be maintained in the following year, despite the uncertainty that we are currently faced with due to the worldwide pandemic.

Applying for Primarius and Vice Primarius is how I feel I can grow further while still putting something back into the Pieke community. This past year has taught me that everything you do you do for the house whether it is directly or indirectly. “Alles vir die Huis” is a saying that has become close to my heart and is a feeling that I think all our members should know. My biggest goal would be to ensure that Pieke can continue to create unity while we are all far apart.

These last few months have taught me that I am very socially driven and building relationships is important to me. It is an area that I have neglected in my life but also a realisation that I feel will really help me in future to build in my life and also in the Pieke community.

One aspect of Pieke that I feel should be improved is its diversity as a community and the only way this can happen in my opinion is through open conversations and for that reason I am very passionate about Critical engagement as a portfolio and it is something that I would like to take forward and improve on in the following year.

The situation that we currently find ourselves in has resulted in many of our events as a house being cancelled. One major factor that I feel should be improved in terms of events is adaptability to circumstances. Certain events have no alternatives for our current situations, but I feel that events that have been continued virtually can be improved. Having been part of the planning of the virtual house meetings I know that it has been a major challenge to adapt and not have our house meetings the way we are used to. It was also difficult to get participation, but I feel that comes down to planning. Possible improvements could include having a pre recorded house meeting with a questions forum and later releasing answers to the questions from the house. This may make it more accessible to people who are unable or unwilling to attend due to time constraints.

As a leader I don’t want to be loud and dominating and have no desire to be in the spotlight. I am willing to do that when necessary but also want to allow others the opportunity to learn and grow in situations which challenge them. I want to inspire future leaders to better themselves and push their comfort zones. I am more of a listener and only give an opinion when I feel it is needed and most importantly want to be someone who can hear the opinions of others and be open minded toward change.