Our first Campus Celebrity this year is our very own SGA president, JungHee Hyun. You may recall her from her posts from her trip to India last year, but clearly JungHee has many talents and loves using them to benefit all of us here at Barnard!
1) What is your position and what does it entail?
I am this year’s Barnard SGA (Student Government Association) President, which means I assume a parental role for the council, serve as a sounding board for my peers and troubleshoot problematic campus happenings as a student advocate when necessary. The position so far has been a very dichotomous one. I strongly believe investing in an enthused and prepared council will determine the success of SGA this year, so I’ve been doing legwork for that. The other role I’m easing into is gathering thoughts, opinions and concerns from my peers to then synthesize and raise those agendas to the forefront.
The great advantage and disadvantage of my position is that much of the ambiguous responsibilities are subject to what state and need the college and its students are in. This year presents a great challenge but makes my role an interesting one with all the changes that have been affecting Barnard. To do my job well I need all the feedback I can get from all Barnard students so (shameless plug) please reach out to sga@barnard.edu
2) What do you like best about SGA?
I love having an excuse to talk about all the problems and concerns we, as Barnard students, feel about our school. But most of all, I love that I have the opportunity to directly shape and impact the immediate community I am a part of. I am humbled, inspired and overwhelmed (all at the same time) knowing that this opportunity, through SGA, will probably be the only time where I am encouraged and expected to stand up for the people and/or cause I care about and will in return be respected and heard.
3) What changes are you looking to make this year?
The top two priorities I have in mind for this year include, 1) making a productive step-forward from what we learned through ”Obamanard” and 2) getting students involved in appropriate, administrative decision-making processes. I am most definitely simplifying in how I describe these goals since both imply multiple levels of change for each to be accomplished. So for now, I am first focusing on how SGA can pioneer these changes. We are currently in the process of an in depth internal review of how we, as a student council and governing board of 80+ clubs, influence how campus life works at BC/CU. I hope to continue, beyond SGA’s re-evaluation, to challenge and recreate how systems, policies impact our campus culture The latter goal is also a work in progress that I hope all students can be active members in how SGA addresses the issue of Barnard’s ever-changing policies and how they are announced to students.
4) What advice would you give to first years?
I’m definitely not in the position to be giving advice to anyone since I’m myself seeking for them, but reflecting on my experience at Barnard and what I’ve learned so far, I would tell my first-year self to not compare the Barnard college experience to other collegiate experiences. But I get the feeling I was the only one struggling with this…
So instead I’m going to offer an interesting, thought-provoking concept – Let’s compare an average person’s 80-year lifetime to a 24-hour day. So 10 years is 3 hours. If we were born at midnight of a new day, 20 years later means we just woke up and its 6am in the morning. 6AM!! As 20 year old (give or take 2 years from each end) college students we tend to beat ourselves on the head worrying about the things we didn’t do in the past and the choices we made up until now impacting our future. But we forget that it’s only six in the morning when most people haven’t even woken up – we have the entire morning and afternoon and even evening to live and sort out our lives. Take this time to start waking up, prepare for breakfast or take a shower, because you have the entire day to face and that’s a lot of time.
Also just take ‘Intro to Women and Gender Studies’ class before you graduate.
5) If you were stuck on an island, what 3 items would you bring?
An infinite supply of ice, my brother and a watch. Ice is a better version of water; my brother can be useful and a source of entertainment; at least I’ll know how much time I am spending stuck on an island.
6) What would you describe as your “power outfit”?
This is a hard to question because my current wardrobe reflects my transitioning life’s conflict of interests. My dream is to one day look like I came out of a fancy Theory/Alice+Olivia/Rachel Zoe catalog but for now I want to postpone the day this happens because it alludes to the next step of my, hopefully professional, life. So for now I’m sticking to a brown leather jacket, a black/gold button down, dark blue jeans and flats to make my simple fall “power outfit.”
7) What puts a smile on your face faster than anything else?
I love aerial photos of urban/nature landscapes. Even after a class about structural violence and/or colonialism, which makes me lose all hope in the world, if I see majestic views of the world we live in, I can at least gain an appreciation for the shallow perspectives of our world. Home organization pictures (and wedding pictures) on pinterest boards also make me really happy.