GSA Candidate: Rachel Collins

The polls will soon open on CougarTrail for graduate students to vote on their GSA Executive Board members.  I’ve opened the blog to each candidate to introduce themselves and their vision of the Graduate Student Association.  The first installment is Rachel Collins, a student in our Master’s of English program.

Hello fellow graduate students. Many of you know me and many of you may not, but first and foremost I’d like to say that the Graduate Student Association is a wonderful organization and I am lucky to be part of such an accomplished group.

I’m from Chatsworth, Georgia and graduated from the University of Georgia in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in English. I am currently enrolled in the Master’s of English program here at C of C. Being at the College of Charleston has provided me with an excellent academic atmosphere but there is more to being in college than academia.

While at UGA, I was highly involved in a professional sorority serving as parliamentarian for one year and serving on the philanthropy and fund raising committees for three years. This past year at C of C, I have served as one of the representatives for the English Master’s program on the Graduate Student Council, as the GSA Bylaws committee chair, GSA representative on the President’s Privacy Policy Committee, as secretary for the newly formed Graduate English Association, and I am employed as a graduate assistant in the President’s office. I thoroughly enjoy being involved in the Graduate Student community and I feel that it is time to take the next step and run for an executive officer position within the Graduate Student Association.I feel that I have the organizational skills, the drive, and the leadership experience required of a candidate in order to effectively serve the graduate student body.

Even though the GSA is a relatively young organization, we have been able to accomplish a great deal and I hope to be able to continue this progress by working with the organization from an executive standpoint. Some of my goals for the upcoming year include continuing to fight to save PASCAL, providing Graduate students with more opportunities to intermingle with students outside their programs, attempting to procure extended library hours or a 24-hour study space, and continuing to work toward obtaining a better college insurance policy.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of goals but a few main points I wish to address. My main concern is that graduate student voices and concerns are heard on campus and if elected I would do my best to represent these concerns to the administration of the college in an effective manner. I would be honored to be able to serve you all as GSA President and I hope to have the opportunity to do so.
Thank you
Rachel Collins