For Jacob Chang, a third-year majoring in psychology and political science, and Anna Valerius, a third-year majoring in political science, this year’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) elections are personal—their identities and life stories having led them to pursue the nomination to run for president and vice president of USG with the aim of creating lasting change at Ohio State.
Chang and Valerius will run against Maddie Carson, a third-year majoring in industrial and systems engineering and Sri Uppalapati, a third-year majoring in engineering physics. Their platform is based on wanting to help all Ohio State students forge their own path.
Chang is from Nanjing, China and will be the first international student to ever run for USG president; Valerius is a first-generation student from Cincinnati, OH.
The duo’s tagline, “Pave Your Path,” speaks to their belief that a student’s journey at Ohio State should mean more than attending classes and earning degrees—they want to show students that anyone is able to and should take advantage of the myriad opportunities afforded by the university and take the time to explore their identity and who they want to become. Many minority populations don’t often benefit from these opportunities because there are other barriers preoccupying their mind and time, leaving little occasion for them to seek a well-rounded experience at Ohio State.
“This is a big thing for me,” said Chang. “There’s never been an international student to run for this position. Not even run. It speaks to an issue. There are close to 6,000 international students and scholars at Ohio State, but there’s never been one international student to even run. Why? How? International students don’t think they can be on the ballot. When we come to the United States, we have so much to adapt to. We spend most of our time surviving instead of thinking about what we can achieve. As candidates, we want to help shine a light on university resources and platforms and create a coalition of faculty, staff and students that can help students pave their own path.”
Chang also hopes to dispel stereotypes and not let microaggressions that he has experienced stop him from setting his sights on the USG presidency and to serve as an example for others that they too can have their voices heard.
Valerius’ personal interest for running stems from wanting to empower others to be more involved. Before joining USG and representing Exploration under Academic Constituencies, she never thought that she would be able to be part of Ohio State’s student government but felt inspired by the current president, Roaya Higazi, who served as a mentor.
“Similar to Jacob, my story is not one that I see very often,” said Valerius. “I’m a first-generation student and it has impacted me a lot. Even to this day, I have a lot of thoughts about dropping out because it would be easier to go back to my small town and make a life for myself. However, I’m privileged to be able to believe in myself and that I can get my education because of mentors that have helped me at Ohio State.”
Both students want to inspire and drive others who can relate to their story to follow their passions and achieve their dreams.
If elected, Chang and Valerius want to create better collaboration between offices around campus and USG to create long-lasting and sustainable initiatives and projects.
“If we win and put in place programs and systems, we want them to have a continuance even after we have graduated,” said Valerius.
Voting for the election begins March 8 at 12 p.m. EST and ends March 10 at 11:59 p.m. EST. All undergraduate students enrolled at Ohio State are eligible to vote even if taking online courses outside of the United States.
To learn more about the elections and the candidates, watch the Candidate Debate on March 7, 5-7 p.m. EST via CarmenZoom and read more on The Lantern about their campaigns. More general information about the process is available on USG’s website.
