Hello, I am Joe Marenda. I am your new student Board of Trustees member for the 2018-2019 school year.

First, I would just like to say how honored I am to have been elected student trustee. Hopefully, I can fill Matt Pehoski’s shoes and continue his phenomenal work. Over the past few weeks, Matt and I have been in close contact, which has made my transition into this new position go very smoothly.

Second, I want to tell you a little about myself and why I ran for student trustee. I am 18 years old and live in Spring Valley. My current goal is to transfer to either Northwestern University or the University of Illinois and double major in Finance and Accounting.

For high school, I chose to attend St. Bede Academy where I had an amazing four years. While in high school I played football, basketball, tennis, and ran track. Also, in high school, I was a member of Spanish club and Interact club.

Even though I was an athlete and a member of two clubs, I did not feel as if I was involved in my school as much as I could be. This was my main push for getting involved more here at IVCC.

Aside from being a member of Student Government, I am a member of the math club, I am a student ambassador and I am part of the honors curriculum.

Each of these organizations has allowed me to be introduced to a plethora of new people. When talking to current student government members about the availability of positions for the upcoming year one of them mentioned the trustee position.

After talking about it a few more times, the member agreed I would be a good fit for the position. I knew this position would allow me to meet even more people and expand my involvement at IVCC.

On top of those two things, I also wanted to establish a leadership position that could benefit me later in my career. Thus, I ran for the position and thankfully won the election.

Lastly, I want to talk a little bit about what I hope to accomplish as the student Board of Trustees member.

A main goal of mine is to strengthen the connection between Student Government members and all the other students.

I want students, when they have a problem, to know they can come to us and we can do everything in our ability to help them. There is almost always a member of student government in our office, which is in the Student Center.

Students should feel free to stop by and discuss anything with any of our members. Hopefully, we can have an amazing school year with input from all the students and the determination from me and my fellow student government members.