At 22, there is no question that Melissa Westbrook is a powerhouse. She is a sister of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a Peace Corps Ambassador, and, as an added bonus, the president of the entire UCF student body.
Meeting Melissa, a senior double majoring in, get ready for this one, Political Science and Interdiciplinary Studies – focusing in Physical Sciences and Biomedical Sciences – and minoring in Health Sciences, it’s easy to feel slightly inadequate. Almost in exchange, she offered a bright smile, making strangers feel immediately welcome.
“I want to get a combined masters in public health and international relations,” she said. “I don’t know from what University yet, but I want to get that combined degree and work for a non-profit like World Food Program or UNICEF in the global poverty aspect of food security.” At this point, either as a reaction to my eyes glazing over in awe or just as a side effect of a bubbly personality, she laughed and added, “So hopefully end world hunger!”
Big dreams, but not unattainable for this UCF celeb. Westbrook began getting involved in SGA her freshman year, when she became involved in the multicultural student center, eventually earning a spot on the funding board her freshman year. Although any University would have been very lucky to have her, Melissa says the family-like atmosphere of UCF is what made her decision. It’s easy to wonder whether freshman Melissa ever suspected she’d be president one day.
“I was actually talking to my Vice President, Jacob, because he was in Senate at the time as a deputy pro-temp,” Melissa said. “I was like, ‘Who do you think is gonna run?’…and we were talking like, well, what if we ran?”
Both Melissa and Jacob are currently finishing up double majors, which makes them the oldest people in SGA at this time.
“I was like, ‘Me and you are the only people that have seen SGA over the past 5 years. So why don’t we do it? We have the ability to, we know the history of SGA and we know what’s best for the students.’”
Even with her wealth of experience and strong resume to back, Melissa said she was never too confident in her victory.
“I really didn’t think I was gonna win. Everyone else says they knew, but I didn’t know. There was not a moment where I was like ‘I’m in the lead!’ I always thought I was losing,” she said. “So I was really excited and humbled and grateful.”
And while her cover photo on Facebook proudly features a picture of Michelle Obama, Melissa didn’t have much to say about how being a woman has affected her political career – which is a good thing.
“I guess some people will doubt you, being a woman. But all you have to do is show them that they’re wrong.”
In closing, I asked Melissa what the most important advice she could give our female readers was. She was silent for a moment, then laughed and reached for her iPhone.
“My screensaver!” she exclaimed, as she touched the button to light up her phone. The screen illuminated with the perfect message to wrap up our President, reading,