Get to know your SA president : A conversation with Maurie Andino

Student Association (SA) President, Maurie Andino, is excited to help students reform the connections that may have been lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’ve been in kind of a COVID slump for awhile, but we’re starting to get a lot of events up and running ... to help us get people connected to each other.”

Andino never had plans to become the SA president, and now he shares his reasoning behind the decision to run. “It would give me an opportunity to learn and grow and get to know this campus a little bit better.” He’s a junior majoring in accounting and finance and is from Orlando, Florida. He plans to get his masters before starting a career in finance. When I asked Andino about his favorite classes, it was clear that he had chosen the correct field of study as he listed Intermediate Accounting (if only for the triumph of completing it), Investments, Personal Finance and finally, Heroic Characters of the Bible. 

Positive change became a recurring theme during our conversation. It’s why he ran for office in the first place: “I wanted to learn more and ... see if I could be in a position where I could help make some changes.” Alongside overcoming the social challenges that COVID-19 has created, Andino also mentions more tangible improvements to student life, such as the cafeteria’s longer hours and the renovations to the Student Center that are currently in effect. As far as events are concerned, he’s looking forward to the fall banquet as a fun event where the student body can get together and form more connections.

As SA president, Andino not only acknowledges the importance of leaders creating a healthy environment on campus, but also the role all students play. “Student life is going to be what we make of it at the end of the day.” He states that, “it's also up to the attitudes of the students” to define the atmosphere of this school year.

It is important to him that students know he’s always available to contact. “They can always reach out personally through DMs, email, uGroups, whatever it may be with anything they need.” With the monthly meetings he’s arranged with Dr. Sauder, he’s excited to be able to bring student’s concerns directly to administration.

Aubrey Benton is

sophomore international relations

from Smithburg, Md.