Hello, everyone! I hope your semester has been going well! It is winding down pretty quickly, but the weather certainly does not feel like it yet.

This article is going to be different than the other ones I have written for the newspaper as this is my last column. I would like to talk a little bit about my experience as the student trustee.

Going into my position, I was not too sure what to expect as it is a very daunting task to represent the student body on the IVCC Board of Trustees, but I went into it with an open mind and an ambition to make the most of my position.

On the board, I quickly learned about many different facets of the college that I did not previously know about and found it very interesting. In addition, I was able to offer perspectives about what would be best for the students when faced with discussions that had a large effect on the student body.

I learned too many things to list in this article, but I can safely say that I loved serving as the student trustee and will look back on the experience fondly.

Serving on the Board of Trustees was an invaluable experience, but that is not where my duties as student trustee ended.

Four times over the school year, I got to meet with other student trustees from around the state and discuss issues and problems that were happening around the state as well as at our respective community colleges.

At one of these meetings, there were interviews for non-elected positions. One of these positions was the student representative to the finance committee of the Illinois Community College Board. I decided that this position lined up with the career that I want to go into, so I should interview for this position.

The four people who decided who gets the position picked me over the other candidates! Although I was never able to be active in this position because there was never a meeting of the committee, it still made me happy that I was able to stand out as a good candidate.

These meetings were some of the highlights of my time as student trustee, and I am happy to say that I made some friends who I keep in touch with from these meetings.

As much as I liked my time serving as the student trustee, all good things must come to an end.

However, a new slate of student government officers will be chosen soon.

You can vote on Thursday, April 5 and Friday, April 6 in the Student Life Space. I urge you to get out there and vote as each one matters, and you want to make sure that your student government will be representative of you.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my articles. I will be continuing my education in accountancy at NIU this coming fall.