Major: Political Science & Pre-Law
College: CAHSS
Representatives must sit on at least one committee. How will you work with your fellow student representatives and committee members to solve problems, raise awareness, or make changes at UMD?
Communication and compromise. I expect there to be disagreement with my fellow representatives and committee members; it's essential for democracy to function effectively. I plan to work with these people by discussing topics with all of them, hearing what each person has to say, and then considering their viewpoints. I must understand that when I am a representative, I am speaking for my fellow freshmen and UMD students, so when I enter into communication with SGA members, I will try to best communicate the goals, concerns, and interests of the student body rather than of myself. This process should provide Congress with awareness of certain areas because they will listen, and hopefully (like me) consider the matter. Like I said before, when it comes to making policy decisions, I fully expect disagreement, but it is important to the quality of the "bill" that it is made through compromise because that means it was created from a diverse and committed student government, which will ultimately create the best possible outcome for students.
Describe any leadership experience you have.
Before coming to UMD, I attended Winona Senior High, where I took on multiple different roles of leadership. Some of those roles include National Honor Society President, FFA vice-President, freshman orientation leader, Nordic skiing team captain, and senior band section leader. One of my most highly regarded leadership roles was to serve my Junior and Senior years as the school district's student representative on the school board. In that role, I attended every school board meeting I could, sat at the table, and spoke on any agenda items that I felt the students' voices should be heard on. In each one of these positions, I have learned many different virtues and been taught many lessons that have culminated in my interest in leading others.
Describe the relationship between Student Government Association and the student body. Explain how you as a leader and a member of this collaborative organization might strengthen and/or maintain this relationship.
SGA and the student body are not to be separate entities. I would argue that the Student Government Association is, in fact, the student body (obviously, a representative part). I believe the best way to ultimately strengthen this "relationship" is to expand its basis. How SGA would go about doing this is by ensuring that its members are heavily involved in the UMD community, social enough to talk with many students outside of the governing body, and display a large amount of diversity in order to make certain that representatives are actually representative of the entire student population at UMD. If elected to SGA, I would dedicate my time to this collaborative to meet those goals.
Diversity of opinion is one of Student Government Association’s most important characteristics. In many cases, you will have individuals expressing opinions that are different from your own. How might this idea be beneficial when making critical decisions for the organization and the student body? How might you handle a situation like this as a representative?
First off, I would like to quote a past U.S. Supreme Court Justice - Antonin Scalia - ""I do not attack people, I attack ideas"". I have a strong interest in continuing my representative career well after my time at UMD, so this quote means a lot to me, and I intend on living up to it every single day.
Secondly, I WANT to hear other people's opinions, even if they are different from my own, because I recognize that hearing those differing opinions will either reinforce my own or help to better my own by mending it to align with others. I said this before, but this idea will be beneficial when we make critical decisions because when the decisions are made, the student body, the faculty, and the entire UMD community will know that they were made with the consideration of many different perspectives.
What is a song that you think describes you?
The Times They Are A-Changin' - The Duluth native, Bob Dylan
