It’s been less than a month since her election, but Amarfi Collado, president-elect of the Student Government Association, already is pushing to get more people involved on campus.
“One of my main goals is to include the Saturday students and the late night students, and make them feel welcomed at events on campus,” said Collado, a junior majoring in criminal justice. “It’s not that they don’t feel welcomed, but most of the events are during the day, during common hour, so it’s nearly impossible for them to make it.”
Winning the SGA election was a proud moment in Collado’s academic career. A humble smile crept across her face as she recalled the moment she found out she won.
Sitting inside the SGA office in Tuohy Hall, Collado explained she couldn’t stand the anticipation of not knowing the outcome of the election. When she still didn’t have an answer more than an hour after the polls closed, she went to the Student Life offices to track down Christian Branch, assistant for campus events and technical services.
“He told me, ‘Amarfi, you have to sit down. I have something serious to tell you,'” she recalled. “He made me think it was bad. And then he told me, ‘I wanted to tell you that you got it!'”
Collado immediately dashed to the registrar’s office to share the good news.
“I ran upstairs to the registrar office and started crying,” said Collado, who has worked in the registrar office for three years. “I told all of my co-workers and then I called my mom.”
Collado ran against Santiago Marin Araque, a sophomore, in the election. This fall, Collado will replace current SGA President Lauren Quesada, a junior.
Following her dreams
Collado came to St. Joseph’s as a freshman because she was enamored by its small class sizes and criminal justice program. After finishing high school at Pan American International High School in Elmhurst, Queens, Collado knew she wanted to continue her educational career at a college with small class sizes — similar to what she was used to at her alma mater.
She credits St. Joseph’s — especially the Academic Center for English Language Studies (ACES) and the Honors Program — for helping her discover her true potential.
Collado began her college career as a criminal justice major, and eventually tacked on two minors, in psychology and philosophy. She is also working on a counseling certificate. After Collado graduates from St. Joseph’s next year, she said she hopes to pursue a career in the mental health track of counseling.
Additionally, Collado is a member of the dance team, step team, dance club, honors society, Student Leadership Experience (SLE), LGBTQA club and Poder Latino. Collado was vice president of Poder Latino during the current academic year, but will be step down so she can focus on her duties as SGA president.
