Campus Celebrity: Our Own Misha Tobar ’14

Name?  Misha Tobar
 

Year and major in school? Sophomore, Political Science
 

Hometown? High Point, NC

 
Tell me about some of the organizations you are a part of?
Currently, I am the Social Chair for the Asian Student Association (ASA) here on campus. We work towards bringing the Asian community together through fun social events and promoting cultural diversity.

I am also one of the NC State Representatives for REACH, (Relaying Empowerment – Anything Can Happen) which is a charity organization between several schools such as UNC, Duke, and UNCC. We strive to empower young students into leaders while transforming their passions into ways to make a difference in the world. We’ve currently built 2 schools in Asia and plan on building another school this summer.  For more information
check out reachforeducation.com

This semester Casey Roy, Andrew Thai, Janet Nguyen, and myself, have started REACH as its own organization here on State’s campus. I am currently the Co-President of the NCSU REACH chapter.

I am the Co-Founder and Vice President of FAE (Females Achieving Excellence) an interest group to start the first Asian-Interest sorority here on State’s campus.
And of course, last but not least, I’m a proud member of Her Campus NCSU!

You are the Co-Founder and VP for FAE, what is FAE?
FAE stands for Females Achieving Excellence and we’re an interest group trying to establish the first Asian-Interest sorority onto State’s campus.  NC State has a fairly large Asian community here on campus but for a while there wasn’t a Greek life geared towards Asian-interest. Luckily today we have Pi Alpha Phi, an Asian-interest fraternity, and we wish to follow their footsteps and make a change here on campus.

Why and how did you get this started here on NC State’s campus?
Even before entering college I loved the idea of a sorority, especially the idea of sisterhood. I actually did rush week through the Pan-Hellenic Association my first semester, but nothing seemed to be the right fit for me.  I ended up dropping out but still wanted some sort of sisterhood bond with girls.
For a lot of people, the transition between living at home and college can be really easy for them. In my case, it was really hard! Almost all of my friends went to different colleges, so the transition was hard on me. I believe that every girl needs that go to girl that they can lean on and tell everything to. So starting something like FAE was a great opportunity for me to build a bond with girls and also provide a place for girls who were in similar positions as myself. 

In April 2011, Janet Nguyen and I decided to start FAE. We started to have info sessions during other club meetings and we got a lot of interest from girls. It was exciting! Today, we have 25 strong women as members of our organization. We’re all so different but we all came together for the same purpose.

How often you meet?
Chapter meetings are every other Wednesday with exec. meetings in between the off weeks. 

What is your role in FAE?
My role as VP is to work under the president and be there whenever she is not around. Whether it’s planning out the next meeting’s agenda to helping plan an event, I always just try to help lead our group to our goal. I’m always looking for ways to help improve our group. I also help maintain our Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, and website!

I know you just had FAE’s first Greek wide benefit fashion show, Fashion for Justice, tell me about that.
The fashion show was exciting! It was a benefit fashion show with all the proceeds being donated to NAPAWF (National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum), which is the only national, multi-issue Asian and Pacific Islander (API) women’s organization in the country. NAPAWF’s mission is to build a movement to advance social justice and human rights for API women and girls.
The fashion show was put together through the vision of our fundraising chair, Diana Do, and her amazing fashion show committee. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know how we would have pulled off such an amazing show. It featured clothes from Art of Style, Bevello, Flaunt, Cache, and VIP Formal Wear. The models were all from Greek organizations; Pi Alpha Phi, Sigma Alpha Omega, Delta Sigma Iota, Sigma Nu, Alpha Omega Epsilon, Lambda Theta Phi, and Delta Gamma.

What are some plans you have coming up with FAE?
Right now we’re focusing on fundraising money for our chartering process; we will be having an event in the Brickyard on Monday April 2^nd, keep an eye out for us! We’re also going to be doing a lot of service projects next month such as Relay for Life and St. Baldric’s.

What about with your other organizations?
This Friday March 30^th, ASA is having a mixer at TOUCH Ultra Lounge from 10pm-2am. Also, NCSU REACH is planning a Volleyball tournament for April 21^st!

Besides school and your extra curricula’s, what interested you?
Between school and all my organizations, I’m really busy so when I get the free time I love to just relax. Probably my favorite thing to do in my free time is to catch up on all my TV shows or read Her Campus articles! I also love to go to the mall and go shopping, or just do something to break free from all the stress.

What are your plans for the future, with life or anything you do here at State?
After college, I plan on attending Law school to become a lawyer.

Anything you want to add?
Thanks Anna for interviewing me, it’s an honor to be this week’s Campus Celebrity!

If you’re interested in any of the organizations I’m involved in or just have general questions, feel free to contact me! My email is mptobar@ncsu.edu