Sophomore Demari Freeman is a candidate for Speaker of the Senate for the Newton campus, whose STEM-oriented skill set and mentality will provide a unique perspective.
“I feel like, as a STEM major for computer science, I could look at initiatives or problems more analytically,” Freeman said. “[I want to start] bringing that sort of logic into problem-solving as well or trying to bring up more initiatives.”
Freeman became interested in the role of Speaker of the Senate because it mainly focuses on communication and information, which would greatly help develop his skills.
Although he hasn’t had any SGA experience, Freeman learned how to succeed in a team environment through his time in the robotics club in high school. There he would write down notes and schedules for his team.
“I mainly communicated with everyone [at robotics club], including my teacher at the time, so the Speaker of the Senate would be the next logical step in developing my communication skills and team experience,” he said.
His goals for becoming an elected official are to start having more higher-level science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classes be available at the Newton campus. He also wants to get more student influence and involvement in big decisions involving the campus.
While Freeman enjoys his STEM classes and professors on the Newton campus, he sees a lack of higher-level ones, especially for computer science and engineering.
The same goes for math classes, as the highest level that Freeman can take on the Netwon campus is Calculus 2. He was able to take his first two required courses for his major but saw that he’d have to go to another nearby campus to continue.
As Speaker of the Senate, he will connect SGA and the student body by conducting more surveys and getting the main consensus about what the student body prefers. He also wants to bridge the gap between Newton and the other Georgia State campuses so SGA can better serve students and listen to their concerns.
“I feel like there could be more representation for the Newton campus,” Freeman said. “Maybe it’s just because [Newton] is farther away than everywhere else in general, but I feel like there could be more community and shared experience between all campuses.”
Overall, Freeman hopes to be a great Speaker of the Senate for the upcoming fall semester and believes he has the appropriate communication skills and professionalism for the job.
“[I want] to be better at my role and gain more experience and to try to better represent the Newton campus in front of all the other campuses,” he said.
