Being a student leader is no easy task. It's easy to look someone in the eye and say let's make this happen. What is not easy is the amount of work that leads to that plan becoming a reality.
When I first joined SGA I did so in the hopes of becoming part of the student life experience that made my high school experience phenomenal. I didn't realize however that the organization I had joined consisted of a lot of meetings and brainstorming...or so I thought. Then, as a member of the Finance Board and let alone a First Year Ambassador I felt disconnected from the rest of the SGA and it took me a while to truly learn what was going on in the internal workings of student government. What people see, if any, of SGA is either the Finance Board for cash or posts on Umbc Underground/Retriever articles; nothing however about what we are doing for students. However as I began to integrate myself into this organization more and more, I realized that there is a lot of behind the scenes work involved in the process. Whether it was Elani working on ProveIt, or Indek working on the Financial system and many other people working on their projects as well, I realized that even though I was involved with SGA, I wasn't really doing my share of the work. There was so much to be done and those who would excel at it the most were too busy doing even more important things. That is why new leaders had to emerge to the scene and take on these responsibilities so that the torch does continue to be passed on. Losing the election was tough, but it offered me the opportunity to see what happens in the SGA executive cabinet. That was and still is one of the coolest experiences ever. I have been working with so many people on coming up with ideas and seeing them slowly evolve into reality, but nothing at the snap of your fingers. Working to change policy with the administration and create new things on campus is not easy. The infamous RED TAPE is something that while provides a safe net that protects the administration and the students, is in many cases detrimental to the progress of student life. Quoting Josh Michael on this one, "Fighting the RED TAPE is what we do at SGA every day." Its not creating projects or working on ideas or anything of that sort; we do that but its not our essential task because honestly anyone can come up with a great idea. It's all about making it happen. That is why I love this campus, because we have traversed through the fields of red tape and have made things happen and change on campus that has affected each and every students’ daily lives. Its tough sometimes to see the fruits of hard work, but when a group of students get together and say "We will do this!" it can make a powerful statement that if left dry will go back into the big book of ideas that no one cares enough to work on. Why? Sometimes being a student leader you forget you are a student. It can be awakening to see yourself say “wow, I want to do this rather than study.” That is where problems begin and when one must reflect and say to themselves that it’s important not to lose sight of your primary goal in search of change and improvement. Sometimes you need to delegate tasks and give projects up to others. What I'm trying to get at here is that even though I may want to see something happen on campus very badly, I can’t necessarily commit to it because of time constraints. But I'm sure there is a student out there who thinks that they want to see that change as well, have the time, and if given the right direction and help can make it happen and leave their mark at UMBC. That is what I would love to see happen: Students who are not elected officials or appointed officers, just walking into the SGA office saying "Hey! I saw you guys have this project and no one is able to work on it, I will! Teach me how I should approach this and help me assemble a team of several people who can work with me to make this happen!" A dream far away this is? I don't think so, so let's make it happen.
Being a student leader is no easy task. It's easy to look someone in the eye and say let's make this happen. What is not easy is the amount of work that leads to that plan becoming a reality.
