Masochism or love for what they do: Presidents of the Student Council

Is it masochism or the intention of leaving a better university than they entered? After a long day of freshman orientation, the presidents of each faculty council spoke with Her Campus UPRM.  The five presidents greeted us with tired eyes but with smiles full of energy. 

These five students sacrifice hours to help make our university a better place to be around. The big chief, Jesiel M.  Díaz, is the President of the General Council. It is needless to say, without his fellow faculty council presidents his job would not be the same. Student council veterans-  the president of the Agricultural Sciences council, Tairí M. Colón and the president of the arts and science council, Xiomara Torres Rivera, keep renewing their positions because of their love of helping others.

  In the photo above is pictured from left to right: José G. Acevedo, Tairí M. Colón and Phillip Ongay.

“I am the type of person that always get affected by the surroundings and considering that here in UPRM are a lot of problems that most of us are ignorant to” Xiomara states, the reason she pursued a spot in the student council was to become part of the change. On the other hand the president of the engineering council, Phillip M. Ongay is proud about the fact that he has grown a lot as a person during his time as a member of the council. Ongay said that he discovered a hidden leader inside of him and he uses it to help others around him to become the best version of themselves.

A group of the student council  pose for the camera at Freshman Orientation.

The president of the General Council, Jesiel M. Díaz mentioned that the satisfaction of helping other students its what really keeps him going- enough to be 8 hours on campus and still have a smile on his face. As well as for José G. Acevedo, helping students from his faculty be more at home in their university is what propelled this newcomer to run for president of the business administration council.

Being part of such an important and diverse association has helped all of them grow as students and as persons. Specially, Jesiel, who looks like a shy guy but had to speak in front of 4,000 in the freshman orientation “I’ve never would have imagined myself doing that. Me- the guy who was terrified by oral reports”. Tairí was in for a surprise when she entered the council; it turned out it became a second school for her. A place where she has learned greatly and developed skills valued on the workforce.

Jesiel speaking on the Freshman Orientation.

All of the hard work is not in vain, of all of his experience with the council Phillip, who also serves as the vice president for the general student council shares that his favorite one is engineering week. It’s a week where all of the faculty’s associations work together to showcase the talent that “ el colegio” has.

For Jesiel, the most gratifying experience was witnessing that enough UPRM students attended last General Assembly, celebrated April  8th, 2014. Seeing that UPRM did not need a strike for its students to react- to know that the students he represents care about what’s happening. As for Tairí, her most satisfying moment was when she realized that all the things the student council has to offer were known in her faculty, a place where few students knew about the functions of the council. 

 This year’s biggest goal is actually to create a Student Council closer to the student body. All they want you to know is that they are there to help you. 

None of the photos used are mine

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