I feel lost as to what exactly to say about my time as your ASNMU president; I’ve re-written this column several times. I want to write a reflection, an apology and some words of wisdom for the next administration.
At the end of the day, I would come home from my office, usually around midnight. Some days I felt elated, others completely defeated. I realized that this was the feeling of climbing the difficult upward slope of learning through experience. I know now that I am not alone in this experience. This is what NMU students face every day: we are working tough jobs, we are waking up and going to class, we are excited, we are frustrated. This kind of learning through trial and error is the most risky and effective kind. As ASNMU president, I learned on the job and sometimes felt unsure, as any NMU student does, about exactly how to go about accomplishing the big ambitions we have. Serving as ASNMU president in a time of budget cuts and an economic crisis, it has become easy to see nothing but the negative. I have been easily criticized and have easily criticized others. During these times of high stress and few resources, it is difficult to look past some of the negative experiences we have had as an organization, and see this year for what it was: a time of learning and of positive experiences. While ASNMU has been in the spotlight lately for negative things, many of the incredibly positive accomplishments we have made have gone without equal publicity.
To name a few, in the past year, ASNMU has taken action on behalf of students in the following areas: we have worked with Public Safety to expand parking around the University Center, established a bike-share program and worked to update and expand the Wildcat Shuttle routes. We helped open up communication between students and the administration through “Let’s Chat” sessions held around campus more frequently. We advocated for more affordable tuition by rallying with state legislators and students from across the state, calling and e-mailing legislators, and working with President Wong, as well as the Board of Trustees to stress student concerns. Of all the accomplishments this year, I am proudest to see the increased conversation around campus among students, faculty and staff regarding a number of important issues, ranging from tuition rates, parking and sustainability, to broader issues such as university funding, concealed weapons and marijuana laws. I think it is so important that we all be aware of the bigger world and engage in open and intelligent dialogue with one another.
As a community and as a university, we must move forward. We must look past our difficult experiences and see them not as failures, but as learning experiences. We all make mistakes. We are all learning, and I hope never to stop. I give the following words of advice to our new ASNMU president elect: do not stop trying. Do not be afraid to make mistakes, but always try your best. Listen carefully to the student body. Stay positive. Climb the steep hill of learning through experience. Through teamwork as a student body, we can reach the top.
To faculty, staff and students: thank you for the opportunity to serve as your ASNMU president. While I will no longer be your president, I will be a Wildcat for one more year; please feel free to contact me at my personal e-mail if I can be of assistance at any time.
