What made you want to get involved in Bucknell Student Government as Vice President of Operations?
I was involved in Student Government in high school and always enjoyed that roll. In terms of my time on Bucknell Student Government, my first-year, I decided to run for secretary/treasurer because I knew I wanted to be involved on campus and figured that I had as good a chance of any because nobody really knew anybody on campus. After I assumed that roll my first year and first semester of sophomore year, I knew that wanted to be even more involved so I started to consider the Executive Board. The Vice President of Operations job is unique in that you are essentially in charge of all clubs and organizations on campus and I knew that I wanted to try and work with the largest portion of student body and really make an impact, and I thought VP operations was the way to do that.
How was it working with an amazing all-female Executive Board?
Working with an all female Executive Board definitely made for a more interesting year, but also for an incredible one. We had a lot more emotions and to be honest little dramas than any Executive Board before (I would think), but we were able to overlook things in a matter of minutes and hours. I learned so much about myself through working with Taylor and Alex and would never change my experience. I feel like we made BSG more personal and really made ourselves approachable. I loved working with the two of them and representing the female population on campus. It is clear that as the times change women empowerment is also coming to the forefront, and I’m glad I could be a part of the cutting edge of that at Bucknell.
You were involved in some very powerful and impactful events in the last year like the Solidarity Ceremony and One Too Many: What Will it Take. What did you learn from facilitating these events?
From facilitating events such as the Solidarity Event and One Too Many: What Will it Take I’ve learned that as much as some of may think we live in a “Bucknell Bubble,” we are impacted by the same problems that surround other college campuses. We are not a minority but a large part of the majority and we all need to recognize that we are part of the problem. The greatest thing I have learned from the events though is that we have students on this campus who care. Who want to make change, an impact. That is the most rewarding, encouraging experience to see that as much as people may doubt it, we are not an apathetic campus and have the ability to make the change we want.
How do you hope the new executive board will continue to inspire change and promote acceptance on this campus?
I do wish the next Executive Board the best of luck, it was the greatest thing I have done at Bucknell, be involved in BSG to this capacity. I hope they will continue to make BSG approachable and work with students to reform what they think needs to be changed. I am confident that they will take all the strides necessary to impact great change on this campus, and I am so excited to watch what they can do.
Fast Facts:
- #1 on your Bucknell bucket list: Take a nap on the quad and or play frisbee, but I think I’m terrible at frisbee so sleeping is probably my better option.
- Favorite spot on campus: I want to say my bed but honestly it’s probably walking across the quad on a fall day where the leaves in the tree outside Marts Hall have changed color. I really appreciate the beauty of this campus at the time and the copious amounts of Instagrams documenting it.
- Little Known fact: I’m Australian, well half Australian but I think that’s pretty cool. I also walk on my toes and my parents always used to yell at me (and still do).