Have you ever signed up for something or joined an organization because you thought that it would boost your job skills or make your resume look better? College has an endless plethora of these opportunities, one of them being student government. When I was a freshman at MSU, I decided to run for a position in Associated Students of Montana State University because I thought it would be a good way to network in the university and become better known among my peers. It was actually my backup plan if another job didn’t pan out, but I ended up being awarded both positions. I was ecstatic for the opportunity, but didn’t think I would really invest much time and effort. Boy, was I wrong.

My very first senate meeting was nearly six hours long. As I sat there listening to my peers argue and discuss the budget for programs during the upcoming year, I started to question whether I had made the right decision. However, over the course of the next year, I learned about how fun of a role I had entered into. As one of the 679 University Studies students, I ran unopposed as the University Studies senator for the 2017-18 academic year. I won with a whopping 68 votes and was in charge of representing the smallest college on my campus. I also became an RA for a University Studies floor in one of the residence halls and met periodically with advisors and deans from my college. I started to realize what a great opportunity this could be.

As a senator, I was required to hold at least two office hours per week, serve as a liaison to several campus committees, and attend weekly meetings every Thursday night. I helped sponsor several resolutions and bills as well as met with clubs and students. During my time as a senator, I was also able to plan several campus events; Major Madness and the I Am Project. These programs were both created to serve a diverse group of people and support students in their future goals and aspirations. While these events took a lot of planning, they were successful and engaged students in their communities.

Not all of my time as a senator was spent completely working. Over the past year, I was able to meet many different students and employees of MSU. I spent a lot of time in the Office of Student Engagement with student workers and program directors. We watched a lot of Ted Talks, made silly memes, and complained about the endless list of homework, studying, and projects. I spent some late nights here working on programs and listening to other students and their plans to make MSU a more inclusive and diverse place. I made some of my best friends hanging out in these offices, working on making our campus a more fun and safe environment.

So yes, while this experience did provide a lot of free coffee, doughnuts, and resume strengths, it was much more than that. I made connections and friendships with my fellow senators, faculty, OSE employees, and others who walked into SUB room 221. I also gained important active listening skills, learned how to manage a budget, and became pretty well versed in Robert’s Rules. I was able to gain first hand experience on all of the work that universities put into programming for their students, especially since so much of my time was students working for students.

Overall, this experience provided me with some of the most useful skills and made me into a more thoughtful, hardworking, and outgoing person. If you ever have an opportunity to get involved with student government, club leadership, or university programming I would highly recommend it, and not just for your resume.