Well this it—my final Derby as President of the Union. Although I thought I would be happy to take this weekly task off my schedule, it is not without some bittersweet feelings that I actually do so. Like many of you, I have learned more about myself and more about Rensselaer than I thought was even possible. But most importantly, I have learned a lot about my peers and of the great opportunities and talents that you all bring to our diverse community.
Throughout my time as the 124th President of the Union, our board has strived to bring new and exciting opportunities to the entire student body. Most projects we have worked on and completed were finished behind the scenes, and many of you may not realize the tremendous amount of work that went into completing such projects. It is this dedication and effort that both the board and the student body undertook that allowed our goals to reach fruition. I would like to thank the members of the E-Board over this last year: Jeff Teixeira ’08, Rich Mooney ’09, Rob Odell ’09, Amy Moise ’09, Tamara Sobers ’08, Alex Franz ’10, Abder Benghanem ’08, John Whalen ’08, Alan Chen ’09, and all the staff of the administration for their great efforts and dedication to our goals. Although our Board strived to bring new opportunities to everyone at Rensselaer, none of these events would be possible without the support of the student body.
It is you—the students—who made the year-end Honda Civic Tour concert possible. It is you who helped bring back the Hockey Line, a tradition that had been lost until this year. It is you who helped provide the input for the Games Room renovation that will be occurring shortly. Finally, it is you who continually challenge our clubs to grow, prosper, and change with the changing times. There are so many opportunities that exist at Rensselaer, and you should never shortchange your unique talents and skills, as they can offer valuable assistance for any organization. I have had a great time meeting many of you at club meetings, social gatherings, sporting events, and at parties on the weekends. Although my weeks are about to become 40 hours less busy, I would never trade in the experience I gained for anything else. With that said, we are in the midst of electing new student leadership for Rensselaer—to bring campus life to a whole new level.
If there is one thing I learned as PU, it is that everyone has faults and shortcomings, but everyone also has the ability to grow. Although it may be easy to focus on the shortcomings and faults of students running for these positions, it is more important to focus on the strengths and abilities that these individuals will bring to bettering our campus. I encourage everyone to attend the debates, read the campaign posters, and even call or e-mail the candidates and pick their brains. This is an exciting time for campus life, so be an active member in it!
I would like to end with a quote by Mark Victor Hansen, the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, for all the newly elected students: “Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”
