Shahana Shaik, Vice President of Activities, is arguably the most visible member of Foothill College’s student government, being a regular sight on campus. Over the past year, she has been behind some of Foothill’s most important events and decisions. While her time has not been without its difficulties, it has also resulted in stories of success.
ASFC stands for ‘Associated Students of Foothill College,’ and it plays a vital role in student-related activities and programs on and off campus. It is involved in “funding student programs, supporting clubs, and advocating for student needs,” Shaik stated. “It provides students the chance to get involved with their campus through hands-on leadership experiences.”
The Vice President of Activities is the head of the Activities team in the ASFC, and is in charge of “organizing and hosting the various events that happen on campus throughout the school year,” as described by Shaik. These activities include the new student welcome day, the heritage month events, annual dances, end of year celebrations, and much more. “I also work in collaboration with a lot of departments on campus, especially for the heritage month events to include and showcase the resources that are available for Foothill students.”
Even more than a typical VP of Activities, Shaik had to take on plenty of tasks. For the early part of the academic year, she took on the duties of the VP of Administration, particularly its main task as the head of the election committee. “I did volunteer to take over the responsibilities and it was a challenge because I didn’t have any training,” she stated. “However, I was very fortunate to have a lot of support and help from our amazing advisor Daphne Small and the entire elections committee.”
It was through her role in the election committee that Shaik made one of the most consequential decisions through her tenure, disqualifying the incoming Student Trustee and VP of Activities, Wataru Kondo and Ridhi Thapar. It was a relatively controversial decision, but one Shaik stands behind. “This will ensure that in the future, the elections committee will enforce guidelines consistently, regardless of a candidate’s popularity, to maintain the integrity of the election,” she stated.
Kondo and Thapar were disqualified after complaints were filed regarding friends posting online, supporting their campaigns. Afterwards, a difficult question rose on whether such a rule could be abused by friends of one candidate, where they promote an opposing candidate’s campaign and file complaints.
Such an issue is on Shaik’s mind, however. “This was something we did talk about during the campus council meeting,” she stated. “We are still trying to navigate how this would work for next year but don’t have a definite answer just yet.”
For members of the next election committee, she has advised that they focus on “Consistency and communication.” She also stated that “If there is one thing we have all learned from this election, it would be how important it is to maintain consistent rules and communication throughout the election process.”
This, however, was not the only challenge or controversy Shaik faced during her tenure as part of the ASFC. “I have had speakers cancel last minute, get the dates mixed up, caterers not working out, entire events being cancelled or postponed last minute, decor not working out– the list is long,” she said. However, she remains optimistic, stating “These experiences have taught me that not everything will always go the way we want it to and that is okay and a lot of the time, it is not as bad as we think it is.”
She faced other difficult decisions too as VP of Activities. One of them was having to vote out a member of the ASFC who “Couldn’t meet requirements.” Shaik stated, “That was probably one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make for the benefit of ASFC as a whole.” Making difficult decisions seemed par for the course for leaders in student government.
However, Shaik had nothing but praise for the ASFC. “My entire experience being a part of ASFC has been nothing short of amazing,” she stated. She had memories and highlights from the last year that she cherished. She is especially proud of “Being able to meet and connect so many amazing people because of ASFC. The friendships that I have been able to make are my greatest triumph as part of the ASFC.”
A lot of these friends were made through conferences and retreats. Shaik remarks that these activities “Essentially just really helped us become friends and get to know each other in the beginning of the year when we barely knew a lot of the newly elected officers.” In addition to that, these leadership conferences helped her learn “About the actual problems that community colleges face and gave us the opportunity to work together to solve those problems one at a time.”
Of course, working with such a prominent role in student government does come with its own associated struggles. Shaik stated that her greatest challenge was “Balancing my academics along with all my other responsibilities.” In addition to being the VP of Activities, Shaik is also part of the sports medicine team. “Both of these things take up the majority of my time throughout the week so being on top of my academics was something I struggled with my first year at Foothill, and still do sometimes.”
As a result of this struggle, she believes that students should “Always, always prioritize your academics over your extracurriculars.” She continued “Yes, the extracurriculars help when you’re applying for colleges, but your grades are also equally important, if not more. I just found it easiest to finish as much of my school work as I could ahead of time on the weekends so I wasn’t overwhelmed later.”
Nonetheless, Shaik encourages Foothill students to get involved on campus. She states that these low restrictions to involvement should be taken advantage of by interested students. She also suggests getting involved beyond the ASFC, saying “The best way to get involved and be present is by joining a club.”
The ASFC remains a continuing and evolving organization, and Shaik has played a crucial role in its continued development. She will be continuing her studies this coming Fall in San Diego State University, majoring in Kinesiology. She still feels the importance of the ASFC for Foothill students. Stating that “It provides students the chance to get involved with their campus through hands-on leadership experiences.”
She plans to take the lessons she learned in the ASFC with her to SDSU. “If there is one thing ASFC has taught me, it is how important being involved and using your voice is.”
