Every year WE get to decide who is leading our Student Body.
Here’s what you need to know about our candidates for the upcoming 2021 SGA Election. Each student received the following two questions to get an understanding of who they are and what they want to achieve next year:
What is motivating you to be a student leader? What experiences have you had that would be relevant to the position for which you are applying?
Briefly state the ideas you have to improve student life at ENC. How could you contribute to implementing some of these ideas in your role on SGA should you be elected?
Student Body President
Ruth Aguilar
- The main thing that is motivating me to be a student leader is to encourage others to do their best and to also be someone that students feel like they can come to when in need! (…) I want to be that student leader for the student body, I want students to feel like they can come to me with anything! With this, I think that the Director of Student Life Events would be a great suit for me again! This position allows me to listen to the student body and create more of a sense of community to get students involved! (..)
- I want to provide more ways for students to ask questions and express their concerns to the ENC Administration, faculty, and staff; this can be through open forums, town halls, etc, about any concern. (Food, open dorms, COVID, etc.) (..) Spiritual life on campus has always been important for student life at ENC, I want to make sure we are finding new ways for students to feel safe to worship and express themselves in this matter. Lastly, I want to make sure that residential, commuters, and now remote students, feel comfortable and proud to be at ENC, I want to be more intentional in the way I interact with students and find new ways to approach them at a personal level.
Vice President / Director of Finance
Christopher Jaskiewicz
- I feel that a presence on campus of someone who is willing to have those difficult conversations and overcome taboo topics is important. I think as VP it’s also important to provide support to my fellow council members. Throughout my life leading up to this I haved gone through multiple leadership trainings. Including a 9-day overnight leadership intensive on the Yale University campus. With multiple trainings in high school while being a part of the Youth Action Council. (YAC)
- I think there are plenty of things that can be done to broaden the reach of enc on campus and off campus. As VP I would do as much as I can to put forth effort with my fellow council members in assisting them with anything they need.
Samantha Baston
- I’m motivated by the people around me. Whether it be my teammates, family, or friends. I’ve always dig deeper within myself and pushed myself harder so I can be the best version of myself FOR them. I love being a leader, I want to create a ripple of change in any system I’m a piece of. A lot of people say they want to change the world, but often neglect that they don’t need to accomplish grandiose things to do so. (…) I’ve executed this ability several times growing up as the captain of various sports teams. As of this year at ENC, I’m also the captain of the WSOC team after being a player for just one year.
- I want ENC to feel for everyone as it does for me; a home away from home. I want to bring a fast pace and encouraging energy to help urge the students here to break out of their comfort zones too. Your situation is what you make of it, and I want to encourage others to take advantage of all the great things we have here. I want to help beautify the campus in particular with hands on student projects. This way the campus not only has contributions of the past, but also the present community. That’s just one of my ideas!
Director of Student Events
Victoria Parenti
- The main thing that is motivating me to be a student leader is to encourage others to do their best and to also be someone that students feel like they can come to when in need! (…) I want to be that student leader for the student body, I want students to feel like they can come to me with anything! (…) This position allows me to listen to the student body and create more of a sense of community to get students involved! (…) I believe that being able to serve in this position for the past 3 years has given me first-hand experience to better serve our student body here at ENC!
- My goal this school year was to create events that are fun and intentional, after seeing the feedback students gave about this event I am just reassured that I’m working in the right direction! With Covid-19, it has been very hard to execute events that would normally happen. (…) Some different event ideas that I would like to execute would be introducing private movie theater showing that are just for ENC students. Along with introducing new ideas, I still want to stick with our core events that happen at ENC like Lip Sync Battle, Mr.ENC, and Spring Fever week!
Kimberlena Dolan
- Whenever I thought about applying for this position, I thought about the ways in which I could invest more into this community. I have always enjoyed planning events and being able to work in a leadership position and I feel as if this position allows me to do both of those things that I love. Freshman year, I worked with Ashely Prax and (…) I have enjoyed it so much and I think I would truly enjoy working on executive SGA and investing more time and care into this community.
- Now more than ever I think it is important for students to feel like they have a voice. I know the college has some opportunities for students to speak out but sometimes they can be intimidating and there are times when it is hard to put into words what they are feeling. I think if there were something possibly on a smaller scale than student senate, it may seem like more of an inviting place to talk and be heard.
Director of Spiritual Life
Paulin Brave
- My motivation for wanting to be a student leader comes from my passion for helping others. I always want to be part of something bigger than myself. Back home I was one of the student leaders in my youth group at church. I gained the knowledge and experience of what it means to be a leader. Being a leader is what inspired me to pursue a career in ministry. I always learn more about myself when I’m placed in a leadership position.
- I want to improve the communication between the spiritual development department and the student body. I want to host more spiritual events and give students opportunities to worship and feel safe. I also want to organize more service projects to give students another way to grow in their faith.
Sarah Anne Moschini
- My passion for ENC’s students is what motivates me to apply for this position. When it comes to “leading” my dream is that my presence in this position and my actions would encourage others to step up and become leaders within the contexts that they can influence here. (…) Our students are brilliant and deserve to be heard. I would rather be behind the scene creating a space that others can lead one another than to be the face of the operation. (…) My dream is that our students would continue to inspire one another. I want spiritual life to perk up here on campus, I want people to be excited about its events, and I want to give students a place where their fire for God and for one another can catch. My greatest motivation is the students. (…)
- I want to get students more involved in planning. I want to hear from students on why they are hesitant or unwilling to attend events concerning spiritual life. There are a significant amount of athletes who would never want to go to an event hosted by spiritual life. Most events held consist of the same people, from similar backgrounds faith wise. Diversity can be lacking. I want to change this. (…) I want to partner with athletes, with BSU, with the theatre program, etc. There should be a safe place for everyone here on campus to share the gifts and ideas they have been given. (…)
Lacie Price
- It excites me! Brings me Joy to lead others in their relationship with Christ. To dig deep abs believe in who Jesus is in communal worship on this campus. (…) Worked within youth groups in creating my own curriculum and leading where I felt God speak, again in creating ways to connect to teens. Being the only young adult at my church can be very hard, however it has given me opportunity to learn from so many and find ways I can lead small groups, outreaches and simple daily actions where God calls me to step out. (…) When Jesus calls you, you say here I am, send me. I’m this I feel all of these including this opportunity I am saying yes to Jesus.
- In hopes to have more moments of fellowship, sharing personal testimonies from what God has done abs who he is in our lives. Something so sweet is getting to celebrate kingdom victories with one another and sharpen each other. (…) Encourage daily worship, worship is a lifestyle not just a time of singing praise. (…) Allowing students who want to share their gifts to praise the Lord who aren’t on chapel teams as well. Encouraging that to be used for praise. Praying for Covid to decrease, more small groups and retreats we can plan and use to bring together our community.
Nathan Kindt
- I love the campus, more importantly I love the people at ENC, I don’t like the cliche of community or the nuances and jokes associated with it on campus, but I believe the original intent of the word is correct. There are inspirational and encouraging people on campus from all levels faculty, staff and Of course the students. As far as leadership experiences, I have served on SGA before, quite a bit of worship experience and leadership on that setting as well.
- I would love to be able to host more low key worship events and things on campus where we can get together and experience Christ through whatever that means for others on campus. And I’m all in for any of my fellow peers and there ideas about spiritual growth on campus.
Julia Cuthbert
- I love making a difference and being involved at ENC, especially in Spiritual Life. I feel like it’s more than just hosting events, it’s also listening to students and providing what they need. I’ve already served as Director of Spiritual Life, so I think I have a pretty good grasp of what I need to do. Honestly, I want to serve in this position again so I can be even better than I was before! There was a lot of events I had planned that either failed because of COVID or poor planning and I want to do better for the students.
- I feel like the biggest thing we need to work is communication– and not just with students and events. (…) Also, I think this year has really shown us the importance of being there. I think we should have more events where students can meet in groups, chat, and hang out. Obviously, those kinds of events are hard during COVID, but I’d love to do more spiritual life events that allow students to explore their faith and where that fits within the world.
Director of Recreational Life
Christians Gutierrez
- My motivation to become a student leader is to help others, and make our community better without having some fun. I was the student international representative for my high school (Layton Christian Academy), in which I was making sure the international community as well as the students were in the same page in terms of schools and events to maximize our experiences there.
- An idea that I have is to create and promote events that are appropriate for the community in which student would take something away from it as well as have fun. First to implement this idea is to get approve for the activities and do them often to help student get the stress out from their weekly routine.
Will Zarges
- I am motivated to be a student leader, especially for the position of Director of Recreational Life because I believe I am qualified and have enough previous experience to provide events that provide fun and memorable experiences for the entirety of the student body. (…) In high school I had an opportunity to start and lead a chapter Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and have helped lead FCA at ENC. During my time leading FCA I have organized and produced two local dodgeball tournament events that has drawn interest from over 300 people each in addition to weekly huddles (meetings) and events.
- (…) I do not want to only implement my own ideas but rather those of the student body. (…) My ideas include sport tournament and intramural events. Sports such as flag football, basketball, dodgeball, wiffle-ball, volleyball, kickball, and more are all on the table as options. In addition I would love to revive the Lion’s Den. My goal is to partner with the Director of Student Events and the rest of the SGA Council to provide events that attract students to support others in sport competitions, theatre, and more.
Jessica Caldwell
- I joined student government sophomore year for rec life and I really enjoyed being a part of a team that wanted to provide for their fellow classmates. (…) I’ve been a member of the SAAC team for two years, as well as two years of being on the leadership team for volleyball here at ENC. I’m motivated to be a student leader because I want more involvement with the students on campus. I think that students should feel comfortable coming to events and activities at ENC and I want to help provide an atmosphere like that.
- (…) I think that students are more likely to come to events if someone is there to personally “invite” them to come. One way of doing this could be to sit at the booth in the Mann center to promote events or even for students to become familiar with the SGA members.
In terms of rec life events, I want everyone to feel welcome to participate, not just the athletic students on campus. I think a good way to do this is have activities that students can join that don’t require much athletic ability, like lawn games or paint nights.
Director of Publicity
Corey Whatley
- I am motivated to be a student leader because I am already so involved on campus, and this would allow me to be even more involved. I have lots of experience with this position, as I already run the social media pages for the office of Spiritual Development.
- One of the biggest things is better communication about events because it can be hard to find out where and when some events are, and that can be difficult for students. I would try to get better at making sure communication is better.
Gianna Franceschini
- I feel called to lead because I have always had a sense of leadership in everything I do. (…) I am also Director of Publicly for Fellowship of Christian Athletes here at ENC. I am a member of SAAC, Student Athlete Advisory Committee, which is a collection of two leaders from each team to strengthen the athletic atmosphere on campus. As someone who has lead a student body before, I feel called to join this executive team. I want to be someone the student body can turn to when they feel an area can be improved and I want to make an impact on the ENC community that I am blessed to be a part of.
- Some ideas I have to improve student life include making events more well-known to students across campus and I will be sure to do this as Director of Publicity. I will also find easier ways to spread information such as through public social media platforms, etc. Event ideas include more interactive, but COVID-19 safe events such as the carnival where students have chances to compete for prizes. (…) We are not a prejudice campus and we accept all that want to join us. I can be sure to be as welcoming as possible and let all students know we would love to have them as Director of Publicity.
Director of Operations & Organizations
Jessica Willis
- I am an extremely outgoing individual who loves to be a part of anything and everything. Throughout high school I participated in clubs like Friends of Rachel and Sources of strength where we spread encouragement in the community. (…) I think coming together as a community to practice something you are passionate about is so important. That is why I would love to step up and help the campus share their voices by coming together to express their passions.
- I would seek to improve student life at ENC by providing an easier way for students to become aware of clubs and organizations offered on campus while communicating with the club leaders on their needs and goals. I want to build a better relationship with the campus community so that freshman, transfers, and other residents can better know their community as well. Everyone should feel welcomed and embraced with open arms when they step on to this campus. Whether they are having the best times of their life or experiencing hardships..they are loved, worthy, and wanted here at ENC. (…)
Halle Julian
- I love attending the events at ENC as well have had the opportunity to help plan/ set up some events around campus. (…) This is something I want to take part in even further. Some experiences I have had are starting this semester I am the Junior class Rec Life, so I am excited to learn from that. I also was a leader on my volleyball and basketball teams in high school which required a lot of organization and responsibility, as well as leadership skills. (…) In my classes and experiences regarding teaching, I have learned how to communicate better, share ideas, and bring people together.
- If I were to become the Director of Operations & Organizations, I would hope to better involve the clubs here on campus. From observation, it seems as they could use more outreach and representation as well as events or opportunities they could participate in. Another part of my role should I be elected, would be to gladly assist my council in any event planning or creating needed.