Student Government has long been thought of as a self-serving body at USF St. Petersburg. However, the new student-elect is hoping to change that opinion. After the sudden leave of absence taken by the president and vice president, Laraine Ruiz, the Senate President, stepped into the leadership role.
Ruiz is a business management major and psychology minor. Ruiz, inaugurated as a senator the summer after her freshman year recently stepped into the position of active student president.
How did you end up at USFSP?
It wasn’t originally one of my options. I didn’t even know USFSP existed. I was actually looking at the University of North Florida and this girl in my math class told me about it. She and I came up for a tour and I went with her and fell in love with the campus. I loved how it felt like a small community on the water. It’s in St. Petersburg and it thrives on local business and local entrepreneurs and I love that. I loved that the people were friendly here and so pro-sustainability. And here, we’re so close to everything. Miami is so far from everything, but we can get to Tampa in 30 minutes and Orlando in 2 hours. It’s awesome.
You were in JROTC in high school. How do you think that JROTC prepared you for leadership in college?
Yes, I was in JROTC for all four years of high school. I didn’t consider ROTC in college because I wanted to experience things that were different from my high school experience. In JROTC the leadership style was very military-like. There were ranks. In Student Government, you get more done if you work in a team. I mean, military leadership is like that too, but at a higher level. It’s hard for me to tell people what to do in Student Government, because I like to think that we are a team. It’s more of a community than rankings.
Did you ever think that you were going to be president of Student Government?
I did not plan to be president of Student Government. Ever. I wasn’t even going to run for re-election for senator, because I hated the way Student Government was handling things. Then I realized, if you don’t like it, run for leadership and change how things are done.
What were your expectations going into Student Government?
I had gone to a lot of the meetings, but it’s different in the seat of a senator. As a senator, you have free room to create legislation. So I didn’t really go in with a plan. I went in with a goal of learning the rules and the ropes. There’s a lot of things that I didn’t even know until I got there, like that the USC was created by students through Student Government. The sustainability initiative was created by students through Student Government. These are things that I learned going in, so I just kind of observed for a little before trying to change anything.
What is the time commitment to Student Government?
Well, you get what you put into it. You need to put time in to hear people’s opinions. You need to have a human moment that inspires you to make a change or be a part of a change. You don’t necessarily have to lead it. There are time requirements, but it goes beyond that. I put in my hours and got to be a part of changes within Student Government.
What changes have you seen in Student Government?
Back when I started, everything depended on who was in charge. There was a difference in leadership and ideas between the Senate and the president. There was a constant debate. There was a divide. Everyone was like ships in the night; no one really knew what the other was doing. There was a lot of talking about each other. My second year, we agreed that we needed to [be] more united. There wasn’t as much scheming. We have goals established now. We aren’t going to be children and argue over small things. We have a responsibility. We have to take it a step at a time, slow changes. I was Senate president and then had to jump over to the executive branch, so I can see from first-hand experience where this communication flaw is happening. This should not be dividing us. I try my best to make everything open and public between the Senate and the executive branch so that everyone is aware that everyone is working on something.
When you graduate, do you want to go into politics?
No, I want to stick to business when I graduate. In the real world, there are so many political games and you have to be kind of cold-hearted to get what you want and I don’t think that I am cut out for that. I think I’d like to go into something less cold. In politics, there are a lot of good things, but under that, there [are] a lot of unfortunate things. The public opinion of people in politics is awful.
Fun Fact: In three football seasons, I have only missed three home football games.
