Diving into opportunities on campus since her first year at Oxy is giving 阿贝丁的瓦 a new perspective on how the College runs, as well as a chance to be a voice in steering its future.
As a member of student government, Wafa is learning the ins 和 outs of governing 和 supporting the student body. The diplomacy 和 world affairs 主要/economics minor shares what she’s hoping to improve on campus 和 some of the unique opportunities she’s discovered at Oxy.
从沃拉沃拉一路走来
My family ended up in Walla Walla, Wash., after my mom got her first job as a professor at Whitman College. She is originally from Bangladesh 和 moved to Missoula, Mont.获得博士学位.D. 在我的整个童年, I grew up in a liberal arts environment as she was studying, doing research 和 then teaching. I’m accustomed to the liberal arts environment 和 that was something I didn't want to change when it would actually be me who was in class.
新城市，新机遇
Like most people, I discovered Oxy through its academic reputation. I knew that I wanted to move out of a smaller city that didn't have a lot of diversity to more of a metropolitan city where I could be exposed to things that I had never really had been exposed to before. I decided on Oxy not just because of its academic reputation, but also because the academic programs aren’t confined to classes on campus. 之类的东西 竞选学期 和 Oxy-at-the-U.N., those non-traditional study abroad programs, were very attractive to me. Many students can have a study abroad experience, but not everyone can say that they've worked at the United Nations while they were in college. So it being at a liberal arts college 和 having these incredible opportunities that you might not get if you were at another school that really drew me here.
Before arriving at Oxy, I was already strongly considering a diplomacy 和 world affairs 主要例如，政治专业或专业 组织语言 主要. I guess it has a lot to do with my small-town background; my educational curriculum was very conservative 和 there wasn’t much diversity there. These subjects were something I wanted to learn more about, 和 after having done some traveling, I knew that I was definitely interested in pursuing those studies in college. 当我去参观校园的时候, I walked into Johnson Hall 和 all of those departments were housed within that building—it was all of my interests combined! 我知道我想来奥施康定.
获得政治
Marc Campos拍摄
高中时, I was in student government for one year, so I had a little experience with that coming into Oxy. I wasn’t sure how to get involved when I arrived here 和 thought the best way to learn more about the school was to put myself right in the middle of it. And so I ran for first-year senator during my first semester, 和 I lost because there were a ton of people running. The opportunity came up again second semester 和 I thought, “Why not?” I won that time, 和 wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't think it would be like high school 和 that proved to be true. 在学生会内部，或者 ASOC, you actually have real decision-making power 和 your actions have a direct impact on the student body.
I was compelled to run again my sophomore year [as vice president of internal affairs] because of a constitutional review project we had begun, which I thought was something that I needed to be a part of again. It felt very important to me 和 for the rest of the student body. Being part of senate makes me very, very busy, but I definitely enjoy it. We have a weekly meeting 和 I also run a committee where we work specifically on internal affairs with other senators. I lead a Constitutional Commission committee that brings people from across the branches together to work on the constitution, 和 I’m on the Vice President of External Affairs committee, where we're working on redesigning the ASOC website 和 how we present information. From week to week, you can see the impact that it has on the student body.
在校园里找个地方
After getting involved in literally everything I could as a first-year, I’ve been able to narrow down what I’m really interested in, 这包括与 DWA的部门, student senate, peer advising at the 写作中心 和 the 学生s for 正义 in Palestine group. I also joined an advisory committee for the 校园安全 department, because I wanted to work on a plan to more strategically place blue lights around campus. Blue lights are posts that have a light 和 a phone, so when you’re walking around 和 feel unsafe for any reason, you can reach help by pushing a button on the blue light post.
I think just by going all in 和 narrowing it down what you’re really passionate about helps you find people that have similar interests, but also those with diverse opinions, which I think is very valuable to expose yourself to, especially when you're trying to learn.