In the fall of 2019, which seems like eons ago, I was a doe-eyed first-year graduate student excited to begin my journey at Columbia. Before I even started school, those close to me kept asking me how I, a remote student living 1809 miles away in colorful Colorado, was planning to impact the university. This question, coupled with my own desire to become actively involved in my school, led me down a path of fulfillment. When I began that trek, I had no idea how it would end or what I was looking for. All I knew was that I wanted to get involved. Thankfully for me, Columbia provides endless opportunities for meaningful endeavors. After some searching and contemplating, I decided that joining the School of Professional Studies Student Government was the opportunity for which I had been searching.
Once I settled on SPSSG, a sweet nickname we go by, it was full speed ahead. No, I am not referring to the SPSSG Boat Cruise of 2019, which I was unable to attend since I live in landlocked Colorado, over a thousand miles away from campus and probably equally far from any notable body of water. I mean that as soon as I decided to move forward with this option for extra-curricular involvement, I focused on it and proceeded with intention. I was nominated and won the right to represent my program, Human Capital Management, in government. An additional part of serving in the government was electing to join a committee. Since I was remote, only a few committees would allow me to make the impact I was hoping for.
After some deliberation, I volunteered to join the Public Relations Committee as the committee chair. What does this committee do, you might ask? The PR Committee is tasked with owning and growing SPSSG’s social media presence. I was jazzed to have the opportunity to work with a great team to grow the student government’s reach. Our primary function in SPSSG is to advocate for both the students in our programs and our fellow government representatives. We can do this by increasing awareness around our cohorts, programs, and the university, all of which I did while serving as the chair of the committee. One of the highlights of my time with the committee was partnering with our dean’s communications team to collaborate on campaigns to keep the student body engaged when a pandemic was raging and school was the furthest thing from most of our minds. When I started, I never envisioned that I would be involved in such a purposeful mission.
I was recently nominated to serve as Vice President of SPSSG, an honor and a challenge I am excited to take on. Now a one-year grizzled vet of grad school, I can look back on my first year of school and service in government and feel happy, fulfilled, and optimistic about what is to come. To those of you reading this and wondering if you can make an impact, I assure you that you can and you will. You can follow in a path similar to mine or blaze a new one that matches your passions. If you go to Columbia, the sky’s truly the limit.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any other person or entity.
