Hey there SMCVT collegiettes! Meet SA President Alex Ieronimo! Alex is extremely ambitious and dedicated to the St. Michael’s community, so read on and get to know the guy who will make your voice heard on campus!
1. How did you first become involved in the SA?
I first became involved in the SA during the spring of my freshman year. An email went out about class officer elections for my sophomore year. I wasn’t actually involved in the SA during my freshman year, even though I started attending meetings towards the end of spring. I wanted to run for senator because I had never been in student government before. I always wanted to do it, but I played sports and stuff so I just didn’t have the time.
2. How has your involvement in the SA impacted your time at St. Michael’s?
I would say from just going to the meetings I’m just more aware of what’s happening on campus. It’s been nice to know that I have a voice and during my time in the senate I try to take it seriously. I wasn’t afraid to ask questions during times when people were presenting in front of the senate. It’s been a very nice thing for me to be involved in because even though it’s not a sport, you still have that team environment. We have to rely on each other to make the whole thing go. I tried a few extra-curriculars that didn’t really click with me, but I knew the SA was something I would be doing for a while.
3. What is your most important goal as president?
I want to work on transparency between the E-board and the general student population. I’m pretty proud of the whole “We Want a Say Campaign”. Even though we didn’t get anybody on the board, it highlighted a lot of issues with transparency. The “We Want a Say Campaign” wanted a student to be on the Board of Trustees. We realized that a lot of the problems they wanted to approach the Board of Trustees with could be solved, or at least addressed, through the E-board. Administration will come up with proposals and policies and then it’ll make it’s way up the command chain before being approved by the trustees at the final decision. The E-board is a very important resource here for the students because we have direct ties with the administration and we’re working with the Board of Trustees more frequently. That can only fully be utilized if the students address us with problems. I’m a proactive person, and I think past E-boards have directed students to the SA office during our hours with issues, but I want to go to the students and ask them what’s going on. I want them to be able to come to me and me be able to approach them.
4. How do you think being president is going to impact your senior year?
I think I’ll be more involved then I’ve ever been in the past. It’ll encourage me to take my job seriously. I want to be supportive of the students. I plan to go to a lot of campus events, and I’m sure I’ll make a lot of new friends. I think our E-board is great. We’re still getting to know one another, so some of those relationships will be new. I’ve also had to make a couple of sacrifices. I want to take the job of president very seriously and I’ve decreased my academic schedule to 12 credits per semester so that I can have enough time to fulfill my responsibilities. I’ve sacrificed a couple co-curricular activities as well.
5. How do you think your role as president will impact you after St. Mike’s?
I’ll probably be visiting St. Mike’s a ton once I graduate! We have people who graduated 1974 that come back, and I want to come back and say “I graduated in 2014” when it’s 2050. The reason I really did run for SA President was just to improve a lot of things. I think I have leadership abilities at the moment, but I think it’ll make the abilities I have even better. I think I will build a lot of character by talking with people and having to manage a board of secretaries. I think these experiences will translate well to the “real world”. I don’t look at it as a resume booster or anything, but I think the impact it will have on my character will be the most important thing.