One thing you’ll quickly find out about Travis Aten is that he’s passionate about life at STU. In his four years here, the anthropology and political science major has been involved in Welcome Week, Chatham Hall House Committee, campus tours, Relay for Life, and much more.
But his biggest role yet might just be Grad Class President.
“Everyone always regrets not being involved and I did not want that to happen to me,” says Travis.
This year, Travis will serve as the representative of the Class of 2015. He says he wants this year’s crop of grads to just have fun – and hopes he’ll be there to provide it. He’s also taking advantage of STU’s famously small class sizes, hoping to reinforce the idea of students as family.
“I want the Grad Class to realize that we are all a big family and that we have all shared the same struggles and triumphs, which is really something special,” he says.
Originally from the PEI countryside of Springvale, Travis says he came to STU because he wanted to explore and see what the bigger city of Fredericton had to offer. He also liked the idea of an exclusively-liberal arts school, and surrounding himself with people like him, who wanted to make a positive change in the world.
In addition to being elected Grad Class President this year, Travis was also the Chair for Welcome Week 2014. Travis had previously spent time as a White Shirt Leader. This time around, he took on the larger role that included picking a theme, nabbing sponsors, and planning all the STU-wide events.
He says that the week definitely ranks as one of his favourite STU experiences.
“My favourite part was something new that we did this year which was the paint fight,” says Travis. “It was so much fun seeing everyone getting covered in paint. The Instagram pictures were awesome, which is great publicity for STU!“
Now that his last Welcome Week is through, Travis is looking ahead and planning grad-centric events with the committee. He says he can’t give away all the details just yet, but has a ton of fun things in the works, including a pub crawl next month and a trivia night at The Cellar.
After graduation, Travis hopes to get a masters in paleoanthropology. However, if that doesn’t work out, there’s always the back-up plan.
“If that fails, I will most likely be heading to a jungle somewhere where I can work at a wildlife reserve,” he says.
For now, he’s enjoying his last year at STU with the rest of the Class of 2015.
“We have worked hard our four years at STU and we want to finish it with a bang.”