Hi all! I am a 4th year PhD student in the Politics department, and I would love to be your new committee Social Chair. I have loved being a part of the Lakeside community for the past 3 years, and I would be eager to give back by serving on the Lakeside Committee. As Social Chair, I would focus on trying to bring us closer together as a community. I would love to plan engaging and fun events that would give us a chance to make friendships across departments — something I know can make all the difference in our grad school experience.
I believe strongly in the importance of community building. Within the Politics department, I have been the chair of the Graduate Student Committee and a co-organizer of Princeton Women in Politics for the past 4 years. As part of the graduate student committee, I successfully lobbied the department to create a social events budget, and have used it to plan a range of events including barbecues, Halloween parties, and off-campus activities like kayaking. With Princeton Women in Politics, I have hosted several successful student-faculty mixers and dinners. I have seen firsthand how impactful these events can be in forming long-lasting friendships and giving people the opportunity to de-stress during the semester. I would love to replicate that success for the Lakeside community.
I plan to solicit resident feedback to determine what kinds of events would best suit people’s interests and schedules. I would then aim to host a range of events, expanding on the types and frequency of events offered in the past. I envision these events including social hours with free meals and/or snacks in the common room, monthly game nights, friendly competitions such as a volleyball tournament or a Bake-Off, and parties around times like Halloween or Election Day. My experience planning department events has given me insight into how to optimally plan events — I have learned the best food options for catering in Princeton, the optimal times of the semester to host things, and the way to most efficiently spend a social budget (and how to ask for more). I plan to bring all of this to my position as Social Chair.
More broadly, as a committee member I would strive to work with the rest of the committee to make sure all resident issues at Lakeside are promptly taken into account and addressed. I plan to be active on slack and offline in soliciting feedback and communicating it to the rest of the committee, as well as to ACC and the university when needed. I will aim to address issues like delivery problems, the recent mold concerns and other maintenance issues, give-aways and transferring furniture during move out times, and potentially getting a vending machine and expanded sports/gym equipment. In my roles within my department, I have served as a liaison between students and my department, and ensured that students’ concerns are heard and taken seriously. Drawing on this experience, I promise to be a strong and responsive advocate for Lakeside’s residents.
In short, I hope to use my position on the Lakeside committee to build up the social life of our community and advocate for the needs of its residents whenever possible. I promise to be an engaged and active committee member, and would be grateful for the trust of the community in representing you all!