Dominating the current elections is the race for the USC President. Although an important decision, the elections also include so many other positions that affect you as students and will affect your next year. One of these candidates is Ryan Durgy who is running for Social Science Councillor. Ryan is second year student who wants to be more than just a number; “I absolutely love being involved and creating an even better campus everyday with continuous student feedback. I am running for Social Science Councillor so that I can advocate on behalf of the students in Social Science. One of the major things that I want to implement would be making use of my social network online and in person to better understand students’ needs and suggestions. Furthermore, I will continue to use these resources to inform students about what is going on within the Social Science Student Council and the University Students Council.” In fact, if you would like to contact Ryan and ask him any questions about getting involved or about his aspirations, check him out on Twitter, @RyanDurgy and on Facebook.com/RyanDurgy.
It is evident that Ryan has a lot of experience in government and leadership positions, he has held the VP Communications position with the Sociology Students’ Association and has been involved with Social Science Council”s official charity ‘Bravery Bunch’. During this most recent election, Ryan was the Manager of Media and Public Relations for Logan Ross’ campaign team. During his time in leadership, Ryan has experienced and dealt with many situations involving students and their rights; “I was the Sociology Department Representative on the Social Science Student Council. With this position I represented all Sociology and Criminology students to make sure that their voice was heard. During the year I worked with the Undergraduate Chair of Sociology to make sure thatcommunications via the proper outlets such as Social Media, were being utilized.”
After two years at Western, Ryan has come to love the students, culture and acceptance at UWO; “Every student feels like they belong here and are accepted. It’s a beautiful campus with great faculty and amazing students.” His greatest memory so far comes from orientation week during his first year “It was such a great time! I loved everything about it and I loved the fact that you could literally walk up to anyone in the moment and they wouldn’t find it weird at all if you just randomly started up a conversation. Within minutes, you were friends.”
Through his journey at Western and his life, one thing that inspires Ryan is his mom, and his family “My mother inspires me. Well, my dad and my little brother and sister as well but my mom is amazing. She is such a strong woman and she is someone that I can talk to about anything.”
Being so involved in school and government himself, Ryan know a thing or two about making the most of his experience here at Western and he some great advise for students about making the most of their experience; “Get involved! Become more than just a number. Don’t be afraid to get involved. Clubs on campus are a great way to get involved in addition to council because they offer you that initial icebreaker…The icebreaker is knowing that all those people with membership to that club have that same interest as you.”
As his parting words, here is why Ryan thinks you should vote for him: “I will keep communication as an important link between myself and other students. You can always feel comfortable coming to me with any questions or concerns and I am there for you.”
HC Quiz
1. Celebrity crush
Right now, Lana Del Rey. She’s beautiful and her new album is great.
2. Dream job
Anything creative. I’m always thinking of ideas and how to implement them in an interesting way. I would love to go into the advertising/marketing/branding industry because I could combine my creativity with my passion to keep others entertained.
3. Guilty pleasure
Reality television.
4. Pet peeves
The fact that that texting is so popular, but it’s so hard to read someone’s meaning or emotion behind the text. I’d much rather meet up with someone in person.
5. One thing you want to do before graduating
Make a positive impact with students and the university.
6. Something about you people don’t know
I lived in Huntington Beach, California for almost all of high school before coming to Western.
7. If you won the lottery, what would you do?
The money would be distributed, some to parents, some for real estate, some for my personal ventures, some for my siblings aspirations and the rest distributed between Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and towards further Cancer research.
8. If you could have one super power what would it be?
I’m going to go with the same answer Logan Ross gave you, teleporting! It would be a quick, easy way to travel the world. Can you take someone teleporting with you… is that possible? I hope so, I want to share my adventures!
9. If you were stranded on a deserted island, you would need?
Other than food and water? I would love to have lots of books and a notebook and writing materials. The internet would be cool too.
10. If you could invite anyone to dinner, living or dead, who would you ask?
Elvis Presley. I don’t know a lot about him but that would make his dinner answers even more intriguing! Someone told me we look alike. I’ll have to look into that. I feel like he would be a really interesting person to talk to and have dinner with. I would ask him about his rise to fame and his struggles. Plus, I would tell him that when I was born the song that played on the radio when they turned it on was one of his!