Editor’s Note: People of UW is a human interest series produced by The Badger Herald staff members. The series aims to highlight a student or student group at the University of Wisconsin making an impact on the campus community. These Q&As are lightly edited for clarity and style.
Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? What year are you in school, and what is your major?
I am a senior majoring in Biochemistry with a certificate in Athletic Healthcare. I am from a suburb of Milwaukee called Germantown.
What does the senior class office do?
We partner with Student Affairs. Our main goals are to create an amazing senior year for all of our seniors via events and just try to have that community of seniors come together before we all go our different directions. Also, we want to build that University of Wisconsin spirit and get everyone excited to become an alum.
Our other main goals are largely with planning commencement — all the logistics, who the keynote speakers are, the student speakers and a few other things that go into planning commencement. A lot of our events are also partially fundraising events to build funds for the senior class gift, which we play a role in picking.
What are your responsibilities as senior class president?
The president’s role is a lot of communicating between different partnerships on campus, but then also delegating tasks and creating the agendas for the different weekly meetings, and making sure we are staying on track. I hear what each of the different officers is doing and then sometimes have to make executive decisions on whether we’re continuing down a path or changing paths.
There are tasks that come to me and we need to make decisions as a team, but it largely falls on my role to decide who is completing what, when deadlines are, and keeping everybody on track.
What inspired you to take on this role?
I have always been one to seek out different experiences and opportunities. I feel like I have been in quite a few different leadership positions just throughout my childhood, and in each one, I’ve learned tremendous skills not only for personal growth, but also just life lessons that are going to be super helpful for me going forward.
Knowing from past leadership positions how beneficial they’ve been to me for personal growth, I was like, why not try?
What goals did you have going into this position?
The vice president, Shelby, and I had initiatives we wanted to implement during our time in office which were a big part of our campaign. As a transfer student, I really wanted to focus on advocacy and creating more events for transfer students.
When I transferred to UW, I found it hard to adjust. There are so many resources here, but it’s overwhelming, and it was difficult to know where to go for support. I especially noticed a lot of the transfer student events were geared toward very specific subgroups, like international transfer students. I did not fall into those categories, so I often felt left out. My goal was to work with the Transfer Engagement Center to create more inclusive events.
While we faced funding issues early on and could not move forward with those plans, the Center was open to collaborating. As for Shelby, she had a strong interest in mental health initiatives, and we were able to make progress in that area. In the fall, we hosted monthly “Let’s Talk” sessions specifically for seniors.
Our senior class gift is also going to mental health services to help fund this programming for the next three years. The hope is that by then, it’s well-established and something the university will want to continue.
What has been your favorite event?
My favorite event so far was the fifth annual senior bash. We partnered with a lot of different people on campus and it took us several weeks for us to pull that event off with planning. Seeing everybody come together and just dance, as well as the work we put into that event was really cool to see.
What has been the most rewarding part about being senior class president?
I liked how the mental health initiatives came together. We were already planning this programming, and then our senior class gift, chosen by the class, ended up being for mental health, so it felt very full circle. It’s something I’m really passionate about — increasing access to mental health services and bridging the gap between students and University Health Services or Mental Health Services.
These events help do that. We were going to do the events no matter what, but the fact that the class gift aligned with them and will help continue this programming has been really fulfilling. This role has taught me a lot about leadership, navigating challenges and how important it is to lean on your board, your supervisors and your support system.
Holding a high-level position isn’t always easy, but working through interpersonal relationships and learning how to collaborate toward a shared goal has been incredibly valuable. I think all of that is setting me up well for the professional world.
How can students get involved with these events?
Come to the events! The Senior Class Office sends out a weekly email including all the information about upcoming events, plus important senior updates, like when to apply for graduation. We also include things like scholarship opportunities, and we promote events from our campus partners when they ask us to share them.
A big part of making this all work is simply showing up. For the Senior Class Office to continue receiving funds to support these programs, we need to show that there is interest.
We are all seniors too and want to make this a great year for ourselves, but we cannot know what everyone wants unless people tell us.
What are your plans after graduation?
I got into the Master’s program for Anesthesiologist Assistants, and I will be starting in the fall at South University in West Palm Beach, Florida. It is a big shift, though. I started college at Ball State University in Indiana, and one of the reasons I transferred back was to be closer to home. I’m originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I’m super close with my mom. She is my best friend, and being six hours away in Indiana was really hard.
If you could give your freshman-year self any advice, what would it be?
I think the biggest piece of advice I would give is that everything really does work out. Honestly, if you had asked me during the second semester of my freshman year how I was feeling — whether I thought I would even finish undergrad, let alone join a club or take on a leadership role — I would have shaken my head and said, “no way.” It felt like my world was falling apart.
So, I think it is really about holding onto the mindset that things will get better, even if it does not feel like it in the moment. For me, support systems have been everything. That is what’s carried me through, having people in my corner who I could lean on, who believed in me even when I did not. My advice would be to lean into those relationships, keep those connections strong, build a network and don’t be afraid to let people in. The people around you want to help, so let them.