Pronouns: she/her/hers

Slate: 

Year: Third Year Transfer Student

Major: Communications 

Why did you decide to run for this position?

Honestly, the answer isn’t too complicated, I just saw the ad posted on Instagram and was like “you know what, let’s go for it and see.” It can’t be that bad. And if I lose, it is what it is, at least I can say I tried.

What makes you qualified for this position? What is your history with A.S.?

Being a transfer student, I haven’t had a lot of exposure to the school in general. So, I figured this would be a really great way to kind of meet people, to sort of have a bit of an impact on what goes on within the university. I feel like the fact that I am a student qualifies me because I know what the student experience is like even though everyone’s experience is a little bit weird in general because of the pandemic and different things. I know what going through a hard day of school and midterms and classes and stuff so I feel like I really understand the perspective. I don’t really feel like anyone student or candidate is more qualified than any other. As long as you have the drive to want to make a better effect on the university that should be enough.

What would you like to change at SDSU?

Something I’d like to change – I’ve thought about this one the most – it is so easy to feel like you don’t really fit in at the school especially considering a school of this scale. We have 30,000 plus kids at SDSU but I really want to emphasize community involvement and especially to our commuter students. I feel like we make up a large part of the campus. I would honestly change  things like Aztec Nights starting at 10 o’clock and ending at two in the morning. It is easy for students that live just walking distance away but for students that really can’t commute, it becomes really challenging to kind of be involved in school life. But I feel like with the stadium being built next year and kind of implementing more activities centered towards everyone and making them really accessible to everyone no matter what kind of student you are, I think that will be a really big difference to help increase our involvement among students.”

Can you name something you like and something you dislike about A.S.?

I’m not sure that there is a lot that I know about Associated Students. I would say that is my dislike. I don’t really know how a lot of these things work and I feel like because I don’t that a lot of other kids don’t. I feel like it is a very intimidating kind of environment because these are the students that represent the whole of us and so if we don’t really know how the process works then obviously we are not going to be too motivated to want to participate. I feel like that is one thing that I would change about Associated Students is really just making it more personal. And I guess the whole basis of my campaign is to show that it is not that difficult to apply and put yourself out there. And I guess that is the one thing that I do like is that it was not as difficult to apply as I thought it was but it was not something that a lot of people know about.

What will be your top three priorities in this role?

Honestly, I haven’t really thought about my top three priorities too much. I feel like when I was running I didn’t have a whole lot of ideas as to what I wanted to do with this campus because I don’t know a lot. And so if I were to assume this role next year I would definitely dive in head first and learn as much as I could and figure out what it is that needs help or what it is that needs fine tuning and that is something I believe I could learn as I go with the help of my other [executives].

Why do you think so many positions are running uncontested this year?

I think it goes back to my thing that I dislike about Associated Students. I don’t think a lot of people know what to do or how to get involved even though their motto is really just to encourage people to get involved. I feel like it needs to be a process that is a lot more accessible to all students. I feel like it is becoming a lot less personal so people are becoming a lot less motivated to become a part of their university in this way. Even though there still are students who are motivated to make change across campus, there could be a lot more. Another thing could be this pandemic and this whole feeling of isolation which is a pretty global side effect. I have no doubt that within the next couple years we will see a big increase in people that want to get involved.

This interview was edited for brevity and clarity.