Tell me a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What are your interests?
I'm from Toronto in Ontario, Canada. I am a sophomore, and I like reading and creative writing. I’m a bit of a nerd, so I enjoy things like Star Wars, Marvel, Lord of the Rings, fantasy, and sci-fi.
How did you feel about “WandaVision?”
I liked “WandaVision.” I was quite disappointed with the last episode. But overall, I very, very much enjoyed it.
Have you watched “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” yet?
I've seen the first episode but I have not seen today's episode yet.
What kind of creative writing are you into?
I do a variety of things. I am mostly into sci-fi fantasy. I've written a bit of fan-fiction, and right now, I'm working on a book and some various other things. I'm also taking a creative writing class here at Andrews. Obviously, that doesn't have anything to do with my physics and computer science degrees. But I just thought it would be fun. Also this year, with a few friends, I’ve started a creative writing club here on campus these last two semesters.
What do you plan on doing with your major? What do you want to be?
I'm not entirely sure yet, but I want to do something that involves both physics and computer science. They work pretty well together because pretty much everything in physics now involves computers in some way. If you're going to be using computers, people need to program them. It's helpful for doing tedious calculations and storing data and things like that. I think I want to go into either particle or quantum physics, and then I’ll see however I can use computer science to help with that.
I see that you're involved in a lot of activities around campus. What inspired you to run for Vice President of AUSA?
I was on the student Senate this year and really enjoyed working to make changes on campus. As vice president, I will be the chair of the Senate. So, I will be managing and organizing the Senate and I want to be able to continue working with them to continue making changes on campus. I also want to form a community within the Senate because, especially this year, there hasn't been a feeling of community among our group as much because of COVID. We've been meeting online so it's hard to connect with each other and to feel like a coherent group. I want to do this same thing for the student body. This year has been really hard for our community; we haven't been able to do as much stuff. Next year, working with the rest of the executive team, we will try to have events and activities and figure out new ways to help students get connected with each other so we can feel like one campus and so that we can increase our school spirit.
So how was the process of writing your speech? How did you come up with an idea of presenting your speech?
I wrote my speech when I did my application. Then I came back to it a few weeks later, a couple days before the speeches and worked on it again. I got some feedback from some friends and family and made some changes. I wanted to have a light, fun and friendly tone to connect with people, while at the same time present myself and what I have to offer.
You said earlier that you had some specific plans for next year, that you'd like to work on. What are they?
Yeah, I have a little list here. I've talked to some other people and had a few ideas myself, like maybe seeing if we can get more vending machines placed around. Another idea I had is getting a water fountain at the rec center. I want to work on some of the systems, the underpinnings of the AUSA Senate, to kind of make sure that everything is in its place and explicitly defined in the AUSA constitution. I've done a little bit of that in the Senate already. And so going into the role of executive vice president I want to just make sure that everything is running smoothly and efficiently. And if things could be made better, to work on those things, so that the Senate and AUSA can serve the school better.
How do you plan on working with the new president and with the new people who are holding AUSA positions next year?
I've worked with Dongchan Kim, who is our next president, this past year. And I think we worked really well together. We've already talked a little bit about things when I was thinking about running. I spoke with him a little bit about the position. Obviously, everything we do is a collaborative effort. I want to, like I said, encourage us to focus on things that build community and strengthen our school’s connection with each other, specifically through events and social things. And I mean hopefully restrictions are at least somewhat lifted by next semester. It looks like stuff might not be totally better, but hopefully at least somewhat so that we can do some more in-person events and make up for this year. With regard to a bunch of the stuff we weren't able to do this year, I’m hoping that we can do it next year and go above and beyond to make up for what we didn’t get to do this time last year.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.