When I first came here to Waubonsee, I really wanted to get engaged. That was one of my main goals that I set here is to get engaged and take initiative; to try and join as many things that I would be interested in, because in high school, I participated, but I wasn’t as involved as I am here. So, I definitely want to make college kind of my own, and just get involved and get engaged. I had set my sights on the Student Senate as soon as I had heard about it. I didn’t have an opportunity last semester to try and join, but when I heard about elections, I was all over it. The main reason is because I want to help students, and I want to help students get engaged like I did, and help them take that initiative, right? I like this institution, so I just want to make this institution as great as it can be, and just give everybody the opportunity that was given to me.

So, I am currently the Co-Vice President of the Business Club. I want to give props to my peers; there’s Ryan and there’s Nick, and we all kind of share responsibility, but it’s a pretty big club. So that’s probably the biggest title or role I hold, and in that I do a lot of student engagement. Every time we have an engagement fair, I’m always there running it for however long it is. The last few times I was there for like three hours just talking to students–trying to get them to join. That’s also part of my thing about taking initiative and engaging with people on the ground, right? And just talking to them and asking about their perspective and other qualifications. I am also in the Social Leaders program here at Waubonsee. It’s me and around fourteen other students, so it’s a pretty small group. In there, we learn a lot about what it takes to be a leader, what leadership means, and how to engage with other people. And I feel like I took a lot of that and I put it into my campaign, and the words I say, and the promises I make. Especially when I’m talking to people, and engaging with them. Because I go around a lot, and I go talk to students and ask them, ‘Hey, what do you want to see change about Waubonsee?’ And I tell them what I personally believe in, and what I want to see remain consistent and change.

I would say to reinvigorate and streamline the way we organize our extracurriculars, right? So, you know, in my Social Leaders program, specifically, I heard a lot about how the AAPI, The Asian American Pacific Islander organization is kind of floating around in limbo in a manner of speaking, and now they don’t have an advisor, and they just don’t have anywhere to go. One of my main goals is to uplift students, student voices, and to help them make these organizations, and take initiative that they wouldn’t have taken otherwise. I know a lot of students, myself personally, who are like, ‘We should have this club, and I would totally start it, but I just don’t know how.’ And I want to give them that opportunity. I want to guide them to that platform, to allow them to create those organizations that they want to create and get involved in our community. That’s also my whole thing about unity, right? I think one of my main goals and my main promises is a little bit more of an idea of sorts, right? It’s my whole thing about unity. So, while I believe that one person can be the catalyst for change; anybody can cause a chain reaction to create change–positive change, beneficial change. You need a whole community, and specifically to Waubonsee for our institution to back that change, to make sure it’s long, lasting, and it’s effective.

So, that’s definitely in line with my thought of unity, right? And that includes: One Waubonsee, four campuses. I’ve gone to all of the campuses to put my posters up, right? Because I don’t want to forget about them; they’re all equally as important, and they all matter. So hosting events at all of them matters as well. I know we have a table booth set up to talk about financial aid. Specifically, I believe this past week that it was in the APC. I would make sure that all students have equal opportunity to that, because not all of them can attend here specifically. So, make sure that when we get a table that gives effective information like FAFSA. I want to make sure that it happens at as many campuses as it can, because I know it might not be able to be like every single campus, but definitely Downtown, definitely here and Plano and as much exposure as it can get.

So, I’ve spoken to a lot of students already, right? And I’ve asked them what they like about Waubonsee, what they don’t and what kind of issues plague them. And how we can address those issues, and what we can do to create some sweeping change, right? I know specifically, some people have talked to me about the stress of school work and their workload. Others have addressed the issues of not feeling like they have enough nutritious options, right? And they feel fatigued the entire day because they’re unable to eat anywhere else, because they’re here for six, seven, eight hours a day, right? I know I am here a lot. So, in order to address those needs, I would definitely talk to them. I would first listen to what they have to say to me. I would ask them, what kind of changes would you like to see implemented, and then address the root cause of the issue. Why is this happening? So, for the example I gave about people feeling like there’s not enough nutritious food, okay, well, what food are we offering? How easily accessible is it? What does it cost? How many students are  purchasing the food? How many feel that it’s enough? That’s kind of how I would go about addressing that issue. I would definitely bring it up with the higher-ups. I would talk to the entire Senate, because collaboration is important, right? Bringing this issue to them is important. So, all of these issues I would bring to light. I’m in the business club, and I bring a lot of things to [Mark Price] that people would talk to me about. To the point where he kind of gets annoyed by it, because I’m like, ‘We have to think of this. We have to do this.’ So, I would definitely take that sort of approach in what I do – bring up the issues and highlight their importance, bring in examples of how they affect students and bring in examples of how we can benefit them by creating change.

As someone who is currently in the Senate and is an executive member (Secretary), I see a lot of students feeling as if they aren’t represented, whether that be because of part of their identity or because they just feel like they don’t have a voice outside of that. I want to amplify that for them and make sure that they are heard and that they are seen. 

I would say one of my best qualities is my dedication to servant leadership. I would say that I care about the people that have gotten me here in the first place, and I not only want to better myself, but I want to help better others. It’s not about me when I’m running for presidency; it’s about how I can serve and how I can help. I feel as if a lot of what I do around the campus is centered on self-improvement and improvement of other people. I am in The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), and I am running for a board position for that. I am a Gustafson. I’m a Gustafson planner. I am taking leadership studies for the Gustafson course. So, I would also say I have hands-on experience. There’s a lot more I could list, but I don’t think that listing any of these things is what’s going to make me a good candidate. Instead, my determination to make Waubonsee a better place is what I think will make me stand out.

I would say that a lot of goals are important to me, but I can definitely point out a few that would take top priority for me. The first one would be making sure Waubonsee shows more Hispanic/Latino representation. We are a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), but many students feel disconnected from their culture and don’t feel as if they understand what an HSI truly is. We need to serve our Hispanic students better, especially as a Hispanic myself; I’m Puerto Rican. I would also argue that we need more disability awareness, representation and accessibility. Waubonsee is sometimes slow with changes because we need to figure out everything. We need to make sure that we have the right plan, and we have to move forward with that. But the issue is that we need more change, and we need it faster, because we need to accommodate our students, and we need to accommodate everyone. This includes disabled students. I would know; I’m also disabled, and I feel as if I don’t see that representation or accessibility as much as I would hope for.

I think the issue is that Waubonsee tends to only focus on Aurora Downtown and Sugar Grove. I’ve seen it myself as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) worker. I’ve helped plan for events and when we make flyers and when we make treat bags for events at all four campuses, the other campuses will get maybe 10 treat bags, while Sugar Grove and Aurora Downtown are getting at least over 50, so there’s definitely a disparity there, and that is because Fox Valley and Plano, especially Fox Valley, with it being nursing students  who have busy schedules that change because they’re in a hospital setting, it’s more catered towards their future career. People don’t see it as an investment to put the resources there, and I don’t think that’s true, because we’re also missing out on the perspectives of students who do completely different things and live in completely different areas.

I would try to assess the problem and the student’s needs first, because there’s no one quick fix and there’s no one quick solution. I need to understand the student better. I need to talk with them. I need to engage with them. I need them to explain their problem to me, and I need their full honesty, because I feel as if I have a lot of resources that others on campus don’t know about. That’s because I surround myself in student life, and I’ve been privileged to have connections around here, but others don’t, and others may not know where to look. If they don’t tell me everything, and if I don’t know them and I can’t relate to them, I’m not going to know the best way to help.

What motivated me was that I didn’t see a lot of action from the Student Senate. I’m not saying that they don’t do anything or anything like that, because I’m not there obviously right now, so I have no idea, but I don’t see them at events. I don’t see them talking to students about what’s going on campus. I don’t see them addressing any real issues, especially with undocumented students and how students were scared and were looking for resources. I feel like Student Senate could provide those resources if some students are uncomfortable voicing their concerns to administration or people in higher positions other than students, because it’s easier to talk to your peers. It’s just the lack of advocacy I’ve seen around campus for that amongst other things that really motivated me. I’m also very engaged, and I’m president of Campus Activities Board. I’m in [Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan] (MEChA). I’m in Latinos Unidos, Science Club, Business Club and Phi Theta Kappa. I see so many different people every single day, and nobody really knows what’s going on until I talk to them about it, and they are like, ‘I didn’t know this was happening around campus.’ Things like that is what initially motivated me to run for student government.

I was Student Council President at my high school. I’ve been Campus Activities Board President for this year, which has helped me meet a lot of new people, especially at the events that we host, or when we’re recruiting, so I’m able to talk and connect with people very easily, and with that comes hearing what they need and what they want to see from the campus. Also, I’ve been an active member with activism for people in general.

What I would like to see accomplished during my term would be more information spread. For example, in the cafe, they implemented a rule that no student organizations are allowed to host events from 10am to 1pm Monday through Thursday, which are peak student engagement hours. But, they didn’t ask students how they felt about that. They didn’t ask them to take a survey, but they asked me to take surveys about other things, yet this is specifically pertaining to students. So, they made this decision without the consciousness of students, which I’ve gone around and asked, and many people that I’ve asked personally said that they were not in agreement with that, because they enjoy the events that were happening. They enjoy being able to connect with people, and it’s easier because everybody’s already there. You don’t have to go out of your way to try and talk to people. They’re already there, and they’re already open to talk to. So, that’s something that I want to target specifically, amongst other goals that I have.

Editor’s Note: There is currently no policy preventing clubs from holding events in the Student Center during these times, but implementing the rule is being discussed by the administration.

I want to be able to send students notes that are taken during Student Senate meetings, because the meetings are open to everybody, but not everyone knows that. The information should be able to be spread amongst other students. I want to be able to do a Zoom meeting, where students from online classes or students that can’t make it can join or post notes. I want to do the same with what we talk about during our meetings and what the Student Trustee has heard from the higher-ups. That way we can make sure that students are connected with what’s going on.

I would hear them out. I would take notes. I would make sure that they feel heard, and then I would keep them updated on what I can do and how I can help them.