Ceylin Arias/Staff writer
Election season at the University officially concluded on April 5, results confirmed FIYou candidates at MMC President-elect Krista Schmidt and Vice President-elect Jordan Thompson, and President-elect Leonardo Cosio and Vice President Meredith Marseille at BBC as winners of this year’s student government election.
Though Cosio and Marseille both ran uncontested, this did not make winning the election at BBC any less important or exciting, said Cosio.
“The feelings Krista might have felt when she found out she won the election must have been different from what I felt when I found out, but the core of it, it remains the same. There is a lot of work to be done,” he said.
Cosio said he could not share many of the details about his platform as he has not officially begun his term as president — which will be in May– he has a few plans to reduce transportation costs for students.
“We want students to know that we are here for them. In fact, one of the things that we will be addressing is the bus shuttle fee. Five dollars per bus ride gets expensive and so the SGC-BBC will find a way to cut costs,” said Cosio.
Cosio also said SGC-BBC work for students and want students to know their concerns will be addressed and fixed. MMC president-elect Schmidt echoed the same sentiment.
“My vision as a student government organization [representative] is to be visual on campus. SGC has that potential and empowerment and once we start doing that, people will see that SGC can create positive change for the entire student body,” said Schmidt.
Schmidt says that after joining SGA, students tend to form their own bubble and lose touch with what’s going on outside of that. During the year she took a break from SGC, Schmidt says she was still engaged with students and organizations involved with SGC.
“I felt that this perspective is what is really needed this upcoming year in student government. When they asked me to run at SGA back in December, although I didn’t necessarily see myself doing this in prior years, I realized I could make that change myself,” said Schmidt. “I have already been around students throughout all the organizations I have been a part of so I understand how crucial it is to address students’ concerns.”
Schmidt said to Student Media that she has been working with student government ever since her freshman year as a lower-division senator.
“I actually ran with Alian at the FIYou party and that’s where my roots all started because that was my first involvement on campus. Throughout my academic career at the University, one of the organizations I have been a part of was the Lead team and it completely changed my life,” said Schmidt. “It taught me how to be there for other people and what it meant to be a leader. Employers nowadays want to hire leaders, not followers. It gave me confidence and helped create these unforgettable experiences with different people on campus.”
Schmidt’s platform includes more tabling events that will help meet the needs and concerns of students by helping them out on a one-to-one basis. At a forum discussion lead by President Rosenberg, Schmidt realized just how unaware students were of the resources available to them through the University. A student there had complained not being able to attend a Career Fair because he did not have the appropriate attire.
“What this student didn’t know though was that the Career Closet provides students who cannot afford new business attire with lightly used ones,” said Schmidt. “Resources are out there and I wish students knew they were welcome to pass by the office and ask directly what it is that they need so I can direct them to the appropriate office. Students need to know who we are, what it is that we do, and what we can do to help them.”
Schmidt and Marseille will also work in improving the freshman experience for incoming students.
“We were both peer mentors and we see a lot of potential in that program because when we did it as freshmen, no one really liked to sit through that class and most students just see it as a class they are mandated to complete,” said Schmidt.
Schmidt said one way to improve the first year class is by making it more interactive and engaging for students. With such improvements in place, students would know how to use their advisors more wisely, preventing them from prolonging their graduation date as well as from taking the wrong classes, according to Schmidt.
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