I had never envisioned myself in the role of Student Body Vice President for a campus of over 20,000 students. For a while, I was always wanting to go through the motion of college. I was never someone who wanted to be front and center. I had no desire to be leading the troops. I was someone who was better at pulling all the strings and working internally to ensure the success of external groups. But as I continued my time in Student Government Association, I realized that I wanted to be a part of something larger than myself and work alongside other individuals who wanted to advocate for the progression of Missouri State. So when the opportunity opened up, it was a no-brainer that I wanted to join the crusade of advocating for the students and serving as a bridge to administration. My partner and now Student Body President, Colin Weber, were accompanied by our Campaign Manager who became our Chief of Staff, Drew Minnis. We were carried a trifecta of strengths, all being well-known and social individuals on our campus who were heavily involved. But we also had our faults that were complimented by each other. My serious and uptight attitude was alleviated by Drew, who constantly encouraged me to take a deep breath. And my unhealthy need for independence was changed when Colin taught me how to ask for help. 

Running for Student Body Elections takes months of preparation. For myself and Colin, we began our journey all the way in September of 2021 even though our campaign didn’t begin until March of 2022. For our campaign, we came up with the theme of A Stronger Tomorrow with three chains being used to replicate the strength we have as a group and how that can carry out to the rest of our student body. From there, we created a content calendar for our social media, fundraised over $1,500 dollars for our movement, developed a grassroots campaign, met with over 40 university administrators to discuss concerns that students had, petitioned to dozens of student organizations, and collected over 1,000 signatures from the Student Body in support of our efforts. And of course, we were met with failures along the way too. But that didn’t stop us from getting back up and trying again. 

Once we received the news that we won the election, we immediately moved into finding individuals to serve on our Cabinet. Myself, Colin, and Drew sifted through nearly 40 applications of motivated and determined undergraduates who wanted to join our group. After a week of intensive interviews and deliberations, we settled on our 17 person team we have now: and we couldn’t be happier with our choices. 

Even though I am just getting into my term as Student Body Vice President, I know I will face struggles. As the 27th woman to serve as Student Body Vice President and the first Asian American to be in office, it is an honor to represent a minority group of individuals. But we have a lot of work to do, and I’m ready to shake things up.