The Down and Dirty...

Last week my advisor, Susie Martin and I filed my baccalaureate graduation application. I took a picture of the table decorated with degree audits, transcripts and the final signatures. It’s cliché to say that it’s cliché, but it really was a surreal moment for me. Although I had graduated high school in three years and was valedictorian, it still took me ten years to graduate from college. In fact, ten years ago, I would have imagined that by now I would be five years into a great career. I never would have dreamed the journey I was about to embark on, one of which would lead me to writing this very blog, this very day.

I graduated high school in 2004 from the American Heritage Academy in Cottonwood, Arizona. I spent three years at a community college in central Arizona and eventually transferred to Marymount California University in 2007. After only one semester here, I decided to move to London. For two years I lived in Central London and worked in the television production industry. Upon leaving London and returning to California in 2009, my time away from college continued.  While working in a restaurant in Santa Monica in 2011, little did I know that my life was about to change.  During a chance meeting with the president of Marymount, President Michael Brophy, and a member of the school’s Board of Trustees, President Brophy encouraged me to “come back home to Marymount” and continue my education.  So, I moved to San Pedro and enrolled as a returning student.

I was 25 years old and entering the bachelor program with over 80 credits, yet I was still considered a sophomore based on the emphases I chose. I was feeling out of place and detached. My vision was to put my head down, finish my degree and get out. I wasn’t interested in joining student organizations, I didn’t want to attend any events and I wasn’t here to make friends. Before my first semester back came to an end, I had been voted into the Associated Students of Marymount College as a sophomore senator. That summer I received a call from Kelly Krusee, the advisor to the Associated Students’ organization, asking me if I would like to accept the role of Student Body President for the upcoming academic year. I was nervous and wondered whether I could handle such a daunting task.  That being said, I accepted.

Since that summer day I have been reelected for a second term of presidency and I am the first president to serve two consecutive terms.  Over the past two years in office and with the help of an amazing executive board and senate, we have changed the name of the organization, rewrote the constitution and bylaws, created The Pantry (free snacks and food for all students) and matured as the University’s leading student organization.

My success in the Marymount Student Government Association can be mostly credited to the size of this institution. Having my mindset change from a focus on only achieving my goals to one of serving as a leader of a student population committed to service-learning and making the world a better place has truly been an amazing experience.  Stay with me as my journey and that of Marymount California continues.  See you in a few days with more stories!!!