Her Campus Carleton writer Xerez Bridglall sits down with the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) president Alexander Golovko to dicuss his life, education and passion for all things Carleton.
Q: What is your field of study and what year are you in?
A: I am in my final year studying International Relations with a concentration in French.
Q: How long have you been involved with CUSA (Carleton University Students’ Association)?
A: On and off I’ve been involved with CUSA for four years, although this year is the first year I am serving as elected President of CUSA.
Q: What was your first role in CUSA?
A: First involvement through CUSA was through the clubs and societies. CUSA is responsible for financing and facilitating some 200 clubs on campus. My first involvement was volunteering with the Model United Nations Society and the East African Students Association. My first official elected position was Vice President of the East African Students Association and that was in my second year.
Q: As president what has been or is your most ambitious goal to meet this year?
A: I believe my most ambitious goal this year was to serve as president of all students. Trying to be a president of all students, for the people, by the people. The most ambitious and difficult project I’d say we engaged in this year is a collaboration with the Carleton Academic Student Government, where we are trying to bring Carleton a fall reading week. I am looking forward to finalizing this decision at the Senate meeting happening at the end of this month.
Q: How has being an international student impacted you?
A:As an international student it was very interesting to follow the politics of CUSA. Student unions are not as wide-spread as in North America and Australia, coming from Europe and Africa it was a very interesting phenomenon for me and took me a while to get a hold of it. Student unions have a very strong connection to political parties and partisanship. Coming in to CUSA, my number one ambition was to pull away from the partisanship and serve the students. It does not matter to me who the students identify with politically.
Q: You have a strong connection to Uganda, would you ever like to go back there?
A: Absolutely, my parents are actually still in Uganda, they’ve worked for the United Nations for the past 20 or so years. Canada actually happens to be my 10th country of permanent residency so I travel quite a bit. My strong connection to Uganda comes out of me graduating from high school there with a certificate from the International Baccalaureate which eventually led to me coming to Canada. Do I have a strong connection to Uganda, absolutely! Will I like to revisit there, I do try to, every summer taking into consideration that my parents are there. This summer I was not able to do so because I had put all my effort into working with the Carleton University Students’ Association in reforming the organization internally. Taking into consideration that my parents are there and my friends and family, I would love to at least at some point in my life give back to the country some of what it has given me.
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Q:How has graduating high school on another continent shaped you?
A:Graduating high school in Africa and experiencing the different systems that I have, from private to public, French to international, Belgian to Russian, it really allowed me to broaden my knowledge on culture, politics, religion and ethnicity. And in that sense I am very grateful to my parents for the opportunities they have given me. I’m also grateful for being able to be here at Carleton, in the nation’s capital and being able to relate to East Africans as a family, while being able to maintain my Russian roots. This perspective was shaped when I was studying abroad.
Q: What is your most admirable trait?
A: Most admirable trait…it’s tough to give one to yourself, but I’d say positivity is really important and that’s something I try to abide by in everything I do. Always remaining positive is something I admire in others, and I hope I am able to portray this to the best of my ability as well.
Q: What is your motivation?
A: Carleton University is an amazing school it has given me so much in terms of education, friends, connections and experience. Ever since I stepped foot on campus, it was evident that students are determined to get involved and have a say in making a difference. I remember being a first year and looking up to some of those students who would put in countless hours of volunteering to numerous organizations both on and off campus and seeing how good they felt about everything they did. I think that was what really motivated me to do better, and to put in the hours for those who aren’t able to sacrifice a few hours of their time.
Q: Who did you look up to your first year at Carleton?
A: I look up to the average Carleton student. They know how to go above and beyond as a student. Being a student isn’t like it was for our parents, being a student today is being able to go to class, work part time on the side, socialize and go out and still have time to do your homework. So I always looked up to the average student, who in my first year was my roommate, who was able to do all these things at once.
Q: Is it still your goal to get your pilot license?
A: My father was a pilot and he studied aerospace engineering before he was a diplomat. So he did fly commercial for a number of years and I always looked up to him and thought it was absolutely amazing that someone is able to fly a plane. I would love to fly, I guess as a kid’s dream, and getting my pilot license is just another step closer to getting there.
Q: Why is your father your role model?
A: My father is one child of four, he’s the youngest. He grew up on a farm. I was born in Tajikistan myself, where he grew up. I guess seeing where he got to and from where he came is why; neither of his parents went to school. At that time and even to this day going to university in Eastern Europe is by competition not by right. For him, being able to come out of this rural area and get accepted into one of the most prestigious universities to become a pilot always inspired me. When the Soviet Union collapsed and civil war broke out he decided to expand his education and pursue a degree in the UK through correspondence…and that’s during civil war! He’s strived to never give up as a 22-year-old, back in the day they married young, with a son. I always looked up to my pops- I hope he doesn’t read that thought! We don’t have the kissy, touchy, feely relationship.
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Q: What is your most cherished memory?
A: My parents travelled quite a bit and they never stayed in one place too long. Even when we were in Africa most of the time I would stay back and take care of my sister while they went ahead and did what they needed to. I would say that I would see my dad on a bi-weekly basis. Every time the family was together were my favorite memories. When we could spend some family time together, we would literally get into the car and drive three or four thousand kilometres on safaris. When you’re in a car with the people you love most and being able to talk to them for hours and hours, those are my most cherished memories.
Q: What is your dream job?
A: I would really love to follow my father’s footsteps and go into conflict resolution. Having travelled the world might sound very exotic to a lot of people, but when I go into details about the places I’ve been and lived, those who are aware of international affairs very soon realize that those are the places that have civil conflict. Specifically I spent five years in the Congo, which has the largest number of casualties in conflict since WWII . Growing up in those situations, I have always dreamed of trying to contribute to make it less impactful on the local population and civilians. I want to make it better for the children living in those countries to go to school, and for the mothers and fathers to find jobs. I believe that if humanity does not care for others regardless of ethnicity and religion we are going to be in a very bad place, so I hope that there are more people like me that are willing to give back to the community and humanity.
Q: Who is Alexander, when you’re not being our president.
A: As a person, well, I’m really into the balance of education and involvement. In Canada I like to have my friends over, in the summer mostly, for barbecues or to play sports. One of the reasons I came to Carleton is because of the basketball program. In grade 12 of high school I was captain of the basketball team and we won the all-African international school basketball championship. That was the highlight of my high school career. I always want to experience new things, from getting my pilot license to bungee jumping. I want to push my limits. One of my New Year’s resolutions this year is to sign up for the Spartans race and I’m excited to run this summer.
Q: What is your biggest fear?
A: Loneliness.
Q:What makes you different?
A: My sister is with me, and we have a seven year difference between her and I. That’s another thing that makes me different from a normal student. In my first year of university my family stayed in Africa and I moved here to Russell. My parents travelled so much and my sister didn’t appreciate being on her own when she was 12. So in my second year they sent her here, I moved out of residence, and we got a house together. Me and my sister have been living together for the past three years; she’s now 15. I’ve been taking care of her for the past three years; my parents are quite young as well, so they are very invested in their jobs. It’s been a very good experience having a family member in the country; we don’t have any other family here. It’s been very comfortable having her here, but it was difficult at first. Having to deal with a growing girl, sometimes you need certain advice from people, but I learnt a lot along the way. I’m very proud of her.
Q: Walking away from Carleton, what do you want to leave behind?
A: The feeling of satisfaction that I have given it my all, my 110%. And the countless hours I have given to this organization working 70-80 hours a week have not gone to waste. And that all the positive changes that we have implemented will carry on into following years. This year when we celebrate our 70th anniversary all the former executives who come back will be able to say that this year was one of the best years yet.
Q: What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
A: I learnt to dance the waltz for two years. In Russia, kids dance the waltz! Also, my best friend and I biked the African continent from East to West in three weeks. We spent three weeks sleeping on borders and in safari parks. It wasn’t the smartest idea, but it was an amazing experience!