To put it quite simply, Elena Radding is a unicorn. She’s one of those rare human beings that seems to have life under control at all moments, has a kick butt professional attitude, but is also one of the most down-to-earth and fun women around. Elena is a junior, is double majoring in Political Science and Communication, and is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the poli-sci honors society.
In addition to her incredible academic achievements, Elena is serving her third year on ASG representing Broncos as the Off-Campus Chair. Her main goal for the community this year? To get a stop sign on Bellomy (you know, the intersection where you or one of your friends has definitely played a game of chicken with a car). She’s currently serving as the Panhellenic President for Santa Clara Greek life (a member of Alpha Delta Pi) and hopes to bring all of Santa Clara Panhellenic women together and work on strengthening the community of greek women. If you’re not out of breath for her yet, she also works in the Political Science department on campus.
In the Fall of 2016, Elena studied abroad in Washington D.C. with the Panetta Institute where she worked in the House of Representatives with Sacramento Congresswoman, Ami Bera, who at the time was the only Indian-American member of Congress. Fun fact: Elena used to go out of her way to sit next to C-Span cameras whenever she could in order to find herself on C-Span later and take a screenshot. Snaps to women in government!
But who is Elena Radding really? Well, she’s the coolest. She’s from Alameda, CA and gets super excited to tell people that Vampire Weekend mentioned Alameda in one of their songs. Her mom says that her special talent is that she can cross her eyes in a funny way (definitely request her to do this if you run into her on campus!). For all you underclassmen out there, Elena wants you to know how lucky you have it. When I asked her what her favorite thing to eat in Benson was when she lived on campus she said, “Oh man they just got poke, and acai bowls when I left. It’s like they were like ‘is Elena Radding signed up for a meal plan? Nope. Let’s get those!” Claradise can be so rough sometimes.
Elena wants everyone to know that ASG isn’t just a group of resume builders- they want to help. So, if you ever have an idea or a way to better our community, tell ASG! They’re here for the community and to make everyday a great day to be a Bronco. Or at the very least, make those crosswalks safer. Elena’s favorite part about Santa Clara and serving our community is that the students here are proud of the school and not just the organizations they’re involved in. She believes that is rare in a community and that Santa Clara has something special when it comes to pride in who we are.
Many people have expressed that Elena intimidates them because of her many positions and achievements but this could not be further from the truth. Elena is one of the funniest and most interesting people at Santa Clara. Recently, she lost a game of odds in which she would have to wax off her eyebrow, and the stakes were one in thirty-billion. Both parties said, “seven.” So if you see a one-eyebrowed Elena around, don’t be intimidated! Say hi, and ask her how to get further involved in our community. Or just ask her to do the eye thing.