DWARS in Debate: 8 Reasons to join SASsen

SASsen is the abbreviation for Student-to-Student Houses; a variation on House-to-House, where members of political parties ring people's doorbells to inform them about upcoming elections. In the weeks leading up to an election, DWARS organises regular SAS evenings. Everyone is welcome to join, but why go along in the first place?

1. You get free food

Prior to SASsen, a meal will be cooked for all members who help out. The meal is of course completely vegan, as you are used to from DWARS. Since we at DWARS always welcome help, you don't have to pay for your food. Should you have a little month left at the end of your student loan, this way you can avoid living on sandwiches.

2. You meet new people

As you are at the table emptying your plate, you will immediately come into contact with other DWARSers. Don't worry, they are quite nice people. Because you all share largely the same DWARSe ideas, it's easy to get into an interesting conversation.

3. You will learn about the upcoming elections

Even if you don't know much about the upcoming elections yet, you can just join in during the SAS evening. We often discuss at the table what exactly the upcoming elections are about and what information is important to convey during SASsen. It is interesting to discuss which points are important for students to understand.

4. You feel involved in DWARS and GroenLinks

After dinner, you get to don a beautiful green jacket that says GroenLinks on it, so everyone can immediately see that you belong to the SAS team. Whatever the outcome of the elections will be, you can contribute now. Whether you joined once or five times, you are making a difference and that feels good!

5. You make sure more young people vote

‘What struck me was that the most important thing about SASsen was not to convince people to vote Green Left, but to actually go to the polls.’ - Eva Kruithof

By making targeted visits to students, you ensure that this group also becomes aware that elections are coming up. During SASsen, we often notice that many young people are not at all concerned about the elections and that many students indicate that they are not going to vote. By properly explaining why it is important for them to vote, you can make a big difference to the turnout of this age group.

6. You can win votes for GroenLinks

‘For example, I told him about D66, which is in the same family as the VVD in these elections, and that with it, many of the green values are being lost. To my surprise, at the end of the conversation, the gentleman said, ‘Thank you! In that case, I will vote Green Left.” - Eva Kruithof

If you can convince young people to go to the polls, you can also talk to them about the political views of different parties and explain why you give your vote to GroenLinks. Many students are not involved in politics and for them a lot of information is new. Informing them is therefore very important! If you actually manage to convince someone to vote for GroenLinks, chances are that they will share the information with friends or fellow students. The reach of SASsen is thus much greater than you might initially think.

7. You have interesting conversations

‘While Bas and I had yet to have a single conversation with residents, we could already hear Elte cheerfully exclaim: ‘Guys I just had such a nice conversation! This gives me so much energy, I just feel like I'm on drugs.’ To which Harm replied: ‘Yes but Elte, you always have fun conversations.” - Eva Kruithof

Of course, you may encounter people who have different views from you or, on the contrary, people who understand your views and can enrich them with underlying information. You usually end up in a very interesting conversation at least once during an SAS evening.

8. You end the evening with a free drink

When you all return to the premises tired and fulfilled, you get to relax with a well-deserved drink. What student doesn't feel like that?

I think it's obvious right? Next time SASsen, just go with it too! Next time is 22 May from 6pm. You can sign up for the dinner via the link or below. See you then!

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