Here at NYU, everyone remembers their first welcome week. The karaoke nights, informational sessions, networking events, poster sales and (most importantly) the free food will remain plastered in our minds as the moments that inaugurated us into NYU. These defining moments were all created for us by NYU’s Student Governing Body, who sit behind the scenes of this incredibly large school and attempt to manage the legislative nightmare that is an NYU event. Genesis Bellot is just one of these people and, as the President of the CAS Student Council, she has battled her way through more than one welcome week, and more student council meetings than she will ever be able to count. Between meetings, she sat down with Her Campus NYU to tell us what it’s like to be the Student Council President of the largest school at NYU.
Age: 20
Hometown: Queens
Major: Public Policy, French minor
Title: CAS Student Council President
HC NYU: Can you briefly describe your history in CAS student government?
Genesis: I’ve been involved with CAS Student Council since my first year at NYU. I was secretary and programming committee chair my first year. During my sophomore year, I became a General Assembly member because I studied away in the spring semester. During my junior year I was the treasurer and now I’m the president.
HC NYU: Did you join student government with the intention of one day being president?
Genesis: Yes and no! When I first heard about student council, I was really interested because I had always wanted to become involved in high school but I was too shy. I didn’t run for First Year Class President because I was afraid of losing to the other candidates. I ran for secretary and programming chair instead because I felt like I was better qualified for that position at the time and I saw how closely intertwined the position was with the president and vice-president. I really admired the leadership as a first year student so I wanted to one day be in that same spot. I guess at that point I just didn’t have enough faith in myself that I would be able to do it.
HC NYU: What do you enjoy most about student government at NYU?
Genesis: The aspect of serving the NYU community. As someone interested in public service as a career, giving back to the NYU community is a way I can get that started. Also because going to NYU is a privilege for me and it’s something my family and I are really proud of. Being able to give back to a community that I feel has given and will continue to give me so many opportunities for my entire life just genuinely makes me happy.
HC NYU: What does the average day look like for the CAS President?
Genesis: I’m commuting this year so I get ready and hop on the train. I’ll usually do some readings while on the train, and then I go to class. During, my class breaks you can usually find me in the student council office either working on homework or working on student council things. Then the meetings start, I check-in with the student council advisors and every e-board member on a weekly basis, so that’s like 13 meetings. Then I run to class again, after that I’ll have dinner and then there’s either an executive board meeting or a general assembly meeting or a student government meeting. After all that, I get back on the train and come home to my 4 year old sister who’s been waiting all day to play with me.
HC NYU: Last summer you worked for an Assemblymember*, in what ways did your experience in local government compare with those in student government?
Genesis: Interning for an assemblymember was a very rewarding experience! As a legislative intern, I dealt a lot more with constituent concerns and community issues. Although, we do focus in student advocacy in student council, a large area of our focus is also on programming. This is very different because although we did have to plan and execute several major events for the Assemblymember, it’s not like Student Council which usually hosts at least one event per week in addition to our weekly General Assembly meetings.
HC NYU: What are your goals for after college and how, if at all, do you think being in student government will help you achieve them?
Genesis: I’m pursuing public service opportunities after college like AmeriCorps, Teach for America or the Peace Corps before going to grad school. I think that being on student council has definitely developed my leadership skills. Like I said before, I was too shy to run for a position in high school but now I’m serving on the council of the largest school at NYU! I think this will definitely help in my career as a public servant. After this time off, I hope to get my MPA in nonprofit management and enter the nonprofit sector or maybe local politics.
HC NYU: In your opinion, which is the most exciting welcome week event?
Genesis: I’m a little bit biased but I loved the CAS Game Night, not just because we hosted it but because everyone that went seemed to be genuinely interested and stayed for almost the entire time. We even had to tell some people to leave towards the end because our room reservation was for a certain time. I got to meet a lot of first year students that were very interested in joining student council and that just reminded me of my first year at NYU. The entire executive board also worked really hard during the summer to put on the event and it was our first event of the year. It went really well and made me super excited to work with everyone during the rest of this year and to get to know more first year and transfer students.
A few quick questions…
Favorite brunch spot: CATCH (I love their cinnamon roll pancakes!!)
Best place to study on-Campus: 8th Floor of Kimmel
Place you want to visit the most: Santorini
Favorite lipstick: Too Faced’s Unicorn (it’s basically just like a very bright purple #NYU, I guess)