For those of you who were on campus last spring, you witnessed a nail-biting, pants-wetting, nerve-wracking election for RHA (Residence Hall Association) president (seriously, those votes were recounted more than Bush v. Gore). Now that we finally have a president, Her Campus Emory sat down with B-School junior, Jessica Simon, to get the scoop on the job. For the Class of 2017 who might not know her yet, you’ll recognize her from her cameo in Emory’s welcome video (click to 20 seconds in) as the girl who loves breakfast… and Emory too! Here’s what this Campus Celeb has to say about new Res Life plans, why she loves her leadership position, and her fav breakfast dish.
Her Campus Emory (HCE): What special things do RHA have planned for this year?
Jessica Simon (JS): We have an awesome, super-motivated exec board. We have a theme this year, Dream Team, which is new. We’re trying to expand our horizons and work more with other groups and organizations to do co-sponsorships and co-programming. Everything else is going to have to be a surprise!
HCE: How did you feel when you (finally) won?
It was hard on everyone who was involved. Everyone else who had run had won and lost, so it kind of equalized everything and made us all sympathetic to each other. I learned a lot about perseverance. The hardest thing was that not only the individual reputations of the candidates being questioned, but RHA’s reputation was also tarnished. So we’re going to have to rebuild after that. That whole process was kind of ridiculous and I think now when people think of RHA, they think of that ridiculousness. But we have a lot of really great things planned and really great people who are involved, so we’re super pumped to get this year under way and move away from that negative experience.
Plus, We have an entire new election code and constitution so we won’t have that ridiculousness again. Some other organizations are actually going to adopt our new code to help with their elections processes as well.
HCE: On a scale of 1 to breakfast, how much do you love RHA?
(laughs) It’s up there with breakfast! It makes me really happy. Some people are really into the formality and get involved in student government because they like passing motions. I like that RHA can be really informal and fun and we just go out and get knee-deep in the problems we’re confronted with and try to have a good time and make Emory awesome.
HCE: What else are you involved in on campus?
JS: I’ve been on the Student Alumni Board since I was a freshman, I’m on the committee of the Student Hardship Fund, I do Volunteer Emory and I’m an 1836 Dinner Host. I’m also working with Emory Advantage to help them fundraise this year. I’m also in DPhiE!
HCE: Your fans are dying to know, what’s your favorite breakfast?
JS: My grandmother comes from a French family, so for as long as I can remember I’ve been having crepes for breakfast. If I want to go all out, I make crepes.
Keep your eye out for RHA’s programming this year. With Jess at the helm, it’s bound to be incredible!