New ASCC Executive Board takes office

All five students who ran for student government for the 2021-2022 term were elected, Student Life Supervisor Rosario Garcia said in an email interview. A total of 44 votes were cast in the election, which closed on April 22.

The small 2021-2022 ASCC Executive Board is made up of Student Trustee Taylor E. McNeal, Legislative Liaison Arvin Shahid, and senators Daniel Caldera, Hala Fakhoury and Jessie San. A president and vice president were not elected.

Taylor E. McNeal, Arvin Shahid and Hala Fakhoury were contacted for interviews, but have not responded to confirm their availability.

Daniel Caldera, Senator

Daniel Caldera is in his first year at Citrus College and recently changed his major to political science. He joined as a history major, and describes himself as a “huge history buff,” but after seeing the country’s political climate, Caldera said, he decided he wanted to find a way to make a positive impact.

Shortly after graduating high school at 19, Caldera joined the Marine Corps, where he worked for four years as a Work Center Supervisor and Collateral Duty Inspector. He said he will bring the discipline and leadership he picked up there into the student government.

Caldera said he is working to overcome generalized anxiety disorder and the stigma of isolation that comes with it. 

“Sometimes you just have to build up that courage and get out there,” he said.

Caldera acknowledged that being in a leadership position during the campus closure will be challenging and impersonal.

“You don’t have that face-to-face interaction with your fellow classmates,” Caldera said, calling traditional campaigning “a lot more relatable and respectable.”

Although it’s hard to gauge what change will look like on campus, Caldera said he wants to represent the students of Citrus College and “be that voice for the voiceless.”

Jessie San, Senator

Jessie San started at Citrus College in 2018, when she was 13 years old. She is now 17, and currently attends high school alongside her third year of college. San said she credits her professors, classmates and friends for introducing her to clubs and organizations in her time at Citrus.

Before being elected, San said she talked with the current members of ASCC to get a better idea of what they do and what position she wanted to run for. She eventually decided to run for senator.

“I actually have a lot of connections with the people who are currently in student government and the year before me, and the people there are just so amazing that I was so inspired by what they do,” San said.

Campaigning was a challenge for San. Instead of standing up in front of a class to make a first impression, San said she’s had to appeal to strangers in zoom classes.

“When I went to my classes, I was like ‘hey, I’m not that familiar with you, you don’t know me that well, but, like, I would really appreciate if you vote for me so I can serve our campus!’” San said.

In addition to ASCC, San serves as president of Model United Nations club at Citrus, vice president of technology for the Phi Theta Kappa Nevada/California region, and recently joined Alpha Gamma Sigma. San said she developed different skills from each group, which she will put to use during her time in student government.

San said that because community college students don’t stick around very long, she’d like to encourage students to connect by participating in clubs, organizations and student government. She said she wants students to experience the same sense of “fellowship” she found at Citrus.

“It’s been a long journey, but I’m glad that I can contribute more now that I’m elected senator,” San said.