Student leaders aim to thrive from student success

MHCC students have elected Kelly Bernardino for ASG president and Santiago Velasco as Associated Student Government vice president for the 2016-17 school year.

Bernardino and Velasco won with 242 votes with Peter Camacho and Cayman Linson trailing by three votes. Michael Tippery and Michael Potts came in third with 154 votes, and Carrissa Baer and Jada Salmon followed with 134 votes.

Results of the weeklong vote were announced on Monday.

Soon after, president-elect Bernardino outlined several projects she and Velasco plan to work on as they enter office.

“I’m really big on student input,” she said. “We are acknowledging students and getting input from them… seeing what they want us to work on, as opposed to just working on projects that we think that they will need.”

Helping MHCC administration create a clear path to graduation is one such project Velasco is working on so that students know exactly how many credits they need to take and what classes they need to take to graduate.

Outgoing ASG President Seth Albert is going to be transferring to a college that has such a program. He will provide information and guidance on implementing a clear path to graduation program at MHCC.

Bernardino and Velasco will step into their new roles after graduation on June 13.

Kelly and Velasco also want to focus on catering to undocumented students.  “We do have a big place in our hearts for that community,” Bernardino said.

Kelly Bernardino is a MHCC student and a third term ASG member, having served as the Administrative Assistant for the Executive Cabinet and Student Organizations Council. This has given her the opportunity to work with the various Directors, Coordinators, Administrative Assistants, as well and the President and Vice president of MHCC.

She said she believes that everyone deserves an opportunity at low-cost education, regardless of factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.

“Everyone deserves to have a voice,” said Bernardino, “and for that voice to be heard.”

Velasco vividly remembers the day when he first came to MHCC.  His father brought him and his younger brother to a track and field meet on a sunny Saturday afternoon. “We walked down to the track,” he recalled, “and I saw athletes competing from MHCC, and at that instant I began thinking of becoming a part of MHCC.”

When he enrolled at Mt. Hood, he got involved as an athlete in both track and field and cross country. “Through my experience as an athlete, I met admirable people such as coaches, teammates, and people from the community who support MHCC,” he said.

Bernardino said she looks forward to inspiring similar teamwork.

“I’m just really excited to have this opportunity to be able to grow with the new ASG team and get to know them, to have this big voice and be able to voice our opinions and the opinions of students,” she said. “I’m really grateful for this opportunity.”

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