Summer — 2010

Rochelle Watkins

AS VP/English & Linguistics

“Deyna Hearn is the Dean of Student Life, and she’s amazing! She helped me to feel super-connected to the Associated Students Government.”

Rochelle Watkins has profoundly reinvented herself since coming to SMC and joining up with the AS. “This experience has completely changed my life. It’s shown me that it’s necessary for me to work with people. And though I always thought that I could be a leader, I just somehow remained a ‘team player.’ But being involved with the Associated Students Government [ASG] has shown me how to lead a team effectively. This has brought all of my goals up to an entirely new level, and I’ve achieved things that I never thought I would.”

Rochelle had been to another college but, “I didn’t have a good feeling about the student government there. I came to SMC, and then I met my good friend Raphael on the bus one day, and he just straight out asked me to become an AS commissioner. He was like, ‘Oh, come on! We’ll be doing incredible things, and it’ll all be pure fun!’ ” So Rochelle began orchestrating student activities, and she’s never looked back. “We’ll celebrate Cinco de Mayo or Persian New Year or all sorts of Jewish festivals, and that’s what’s so different about SMC,” she says. “There are so many events going on here that you don’t even want to leave! You don’t just go to class and then go home. You live here! You go to the library, you meet up with friends. And I’ve never seen so many active student clubs doing exciting things at any other college.”

Rochelle once again credits Deyna Hearn for her ever-expanding horizons. “She took me under her wing and made me feel like she believed in me and trusted me. She gave me as much responsibility as I wanted, which felt like an honor. And overall, she just made me feel really good about myself.”

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