During the summer before my freshman year, I attended freshman orientation so that I could get acclimated to campus and register for class. While we were waiting to be dismissed for lunch, there was a t-shirt giveaway that was being led by the Student Body President, Abdillahi Dirie at the time. While I sat and pondered about my future and what kind of student I would be on campus, Abdillahi accidentally threw the shirt right at my face. After that session, he apologized and asked if I was okay, to which I responded yes despite my ego being very bruised. While we were chatting, he encouraged me to join Student Government Association so that I could be a part of something larger than myself and pointed me in the direction of the application so that I could think about it. That day, something hit me: and I was quick to join the organization. 

When I was a freshman, I was appointed to serve on the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Commission as a Commissioner. In this role, I supported my Chief Commissioner in their endeavors while also conducting my own projects such as planning the Red Flag Campaign, working alongside the Title IX Coordinator and Investigator, and advocating for the improvement of reporting processes to ensure accuracy and safety on campus. I even went as far to completely create my own weeklong event called “Did You Ask?” which was an experience for students to learn about the importance of consent and why we need to advocate for it. 

As a sophomore, I continued my journey of Student Government by applying for Cabinet and being designated as the Chief Communication Officer and this was a particularly tough role for me to fill mainly because of COVID-19. Typically, the Chief Communication Officer runs social media and acts as a liaison to the student body for any new projects. But because we weren’t doing any events or developing new initiatives, I had to get creative and change my role to serve more internal functions such as developing new communication models for meetings with admin and designing Heritage Month Highlights. Even during the pandemic, I increased social media followings on all social media platforms by 12% and engagement by 63% overall, and was also awarded Cabinet Member of the Year. 

Moving into my junior year, I wanted to work more on projects where I could see the direct impact. So, I applied and was chosen to serve as the Director of Student Affairs. This position is quite a large one, because it is truly a “catch all” role. Student Affairs at a college campus can encompass many different areas including, but not limited to: Career Services, Admissions, Residence Life, Multicultural Services, and Student Engagement. Because this division covers so many facets, it’s important to create impacts that can benefit as many groups as possible. As a result, I ran several successful projects that include:

• The Pronouns Project 

• The Bear Life Podcast 

• Grocery Store Bingo 

• Pie a President 

• Professional Headshot Booth 

• Swipe Out Hunger Research 

• Rent-A-Gown 

• MayDay Support 

• Multicultural Resource Center Exploration