While national elections are taking over the media, collegiettes may have noticed that their Facebook newsfeeds are filling up with an election of a different sort. SAU’s student body elections are just around the corner, and campaigning is well underway. Junior Patrick Schmadeke will be running for the position of 2012-2013 student body president, along with sophomore Kemper Rusteberg for vice president.
The person who is elected for the role of student body president will have a major impact on life for collegiettes here. Want to make an informed decision? Here is the first half of the information you will need to be an educated voter on April 3.
Schmadeke is a Waterloo native. He is the oldest of four children who greatly values his family. At Ambrose, he is a business management and theology major. He loves discussing “the way things are, the way they could be, and the way to make ideas a reality.” Schmadeke has a passion for continually bettering the current situation and seeing into the reality of the future.
SAU has given him many experiences and opportunities to better himself and become the leader that he is, and now he wants to pay it forward.
“After reflecting on how much Ambrose has done for me, I want to enable other students to benefit in the same ways that I have.”
This desire, along with his belief in the future of our university, led him to begin campaigning for student body president. He brings plenty of experience to the campaign, as he is currently student body vice president. As president, he hopes to enable students to build upon all the great things that are happening here, as well as improve what they are not happy with.
How can this be done?
Only through tapping into personal curiosity and working for change, according to Schmadeke.
“I hope to inspire students to look at the way things are and not only say, ‘Why is that?’ but to go even further and say, ‘How can this be done better?’ or ‘How can I change that?’”
In fact, a quote that has always inspired Schmadeke is one said by Robert Kennedy. He firmly believes in the sentiment that “Some people see things as they are and say why. I dream of things that never were and say why not.”
Schmadeke recognizes the fact that he cannot single-handedly make these changes. He wants to put this movement into action by providing “more effective and efficient avenues for students to participate in activities they enjoy and to discover passions they didn’t know they had.”
With this philosophy, Schmadeke hopes that his presidency would allow the student body to shape Ambrose’s future. This will be beneficial to both current and future collegiettes.
The main focus of his presidency would be on clubs and organizations throughout campus. Schmadeke would use his position on Student Government to help clubs become more cohesive in their goal of student involvement. While Ambrose has many excellent programs, student turnout for these clubs is less than what leaders would like. By assisting clubs in working together, Schmadeke hopes to engage more students.
This is an endeavor Schmadeke has already started. He gave a speech to freshmen during Welcome Week addressing “the importance and benefits of being involved in different clubs.”
His hope that this message will be instilled in next year’s incoming students even before they arrive at Ambrose. Schmadeke has been working with Admissions to start a program in which the university will gather information about students’ high school activities before they arrive. Those results will be passed onto clubs, allowing them to target specific students who may be interested in their clubs. The program benefits clubs by helping them reach out more effectively to more people. It is great for students because it assists freshmen in becoming involved early on in clubs they may not have known about otherwise.
However, this is not the only way in which Schmadeke has been involved at Ambrose. He is also a part of the movement known as “Water Bottle Wednesday.” This initiative is an effort to help Sodexo go green. It allows students to bring their own water bottles to the cafeteria instead of using the glasses. By doing this, water consumption is decreased because the glasses don’t need to be washed in the dishwashers. Although this has begun, its big kickoff will be during GreenLife’s Green Week.
Schmadeke plays football and is the team’s tutor. He works for the Student Success Center, and is currently an RA in Franklin.
Just as Schmadeke feels he would be an exceptional student body president, he has found that Ambrose is a great fit for him. He loves the friendly environment and the small community feeling. He also feels that he has more of an opportunity to make a difference here and appreciates that the impact of every student can be seen throughout campus.
The most important message that Schmadeke wants to pass on to his fellow students is simple: get involved and leave a mark.
“’Be the change you want to see in the world!’ Thinking that you can’t make a difference is nonsense, go shake things up a bit. Make some noise, and don’t leave this campus after four years and wish you would have done more. Make an impact and influence people’s lives in a positive way.”
Look for more information about the student body president candidates in future Her Campus SAU articles, and don’t forget to vote on April 3!