Junior Aman Seyoum, one of this year’s three co-presidents of the Student Government Association (SGA), stepped into his role this past fall with the idea of creating a bridge between students and administration. He and his teammates have been committed to achieving this goal ever since.

Aman is a third year Clinical Laboratory Science major and hadn’t always planned on being co-president of SGA. Aman shared that his decision to run for SGA office was actually made at the very last minute. Although Aman had thought of SGA as a great opportunity to help students share their needs with administrators, it wasn’t until former 2020-21 SGA Co-President and current senior Allison Shelly reached out to him that he considered running for co-president. 

Allison told Aman that she believed he would be a great addition to SGA and that he should run for office with people he trusted and could work through stressful situations with. 

This interaction happened the night before SGA election platforms were due and next thing he knew, Aman was picking up the phone to call the people who would later be his co-presidents: Faith Manickam and Philip Krabill.

Aman says his favorite part of his role is when he sees students come to SGA with their questions and needs. “This is exactly why we ran and why we’re doing this,” he says, referring to what it means for him to address students’ needs. 

As far as his least favorite part of SGA, Aman admits that elections stress him out quite a bit. However, he says that ultimately the most challenging and frustrating aspect of being a bridge between students and administration is realizing that there are a lot of details that go into making something happen and that it isn’t always possible to solve problems as quickly or easily as students desire. 

Aman says that SGA has taught him many things including the idea that, “leadership is walking alongside people rather than ahead of them”. When describing his co-presidents Faith and Philip, Aman says they are two of the greatest people he’s ever worked with. 

In the summer of 2018, Aman moved from his home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to attend his senior year of high school in Lancaster, PA. Just a year later, he joined EMU. He describes Harrisonburg as a place that he’s been able to make a safe space out of. “It’s not a big city so at any time you can choose to either go out and hang with your friends, or have time for yourself and nature.”

Aman, who hasn’t been back to Ethiopia since he left, says what he misses the most about home is the culture around eating food. Not only is Ethiopian food a big part of the Ethiopian culture, but Aman describes eating in Ethiopia as a unique experience where everyone in the community gathers together and enjoys each others’ company. 

Aside from SGA and being one of the CAs at Hillside Suites, Aman’s interests and hobbies include playing music, reading, and cooking. Cooking being his favorite activity, Aman says he wants people to know that eating with people and feeding others mean a great deal to him.