Shirmeen Ahmad hadn’t been on campus very long when she decided she’d like to give Student Government a shot, but EIU’s current student body president says she never had designs on reaching the office she presently occupies.
“If you’d asked me (about being president) a year ago, I would have said you were crazy,” said Ahmad, a senior double-majoring in journalism and political science. “I would have never thought that I could have made it this far. I just wanted to be one of the senators who was around campus, who was able to see all the differences that we were trying to make happen, happen.
“So as the years passed, I figured why not keep trying? There's a lot of inspirational people -- such as the speakers, the other student body presidents and vice presidents -- who were always there to kind of encourage me. I've seen all the student body presidents in my years here or three years, and I’m just wanting to live up to their legacy and be able to make a difference as much as they did.”
Ahmad says her participation in student governing goes back to her high school days in Romeoville, Ill. Despite some doubts about whether or not she’d be accepted, she grabbed an application for Student Government at an RSO fair and ended up getting in.
“I just loved the way the meetings are set up,” remembers Ahmad, looking back at her early days in Student Government. “Everything is so structured, and everyone in there is full of passion because they see all that Eastern can be and all the little things that students can get out of Eastern; I want to help make that difference and make that impact.”
When she was making her college choice, Ahmad says her Pakistani heritage never factored into the decision. Furthermore, she says it has enhanced her EIU experience and hopefully the experience of the many people with whom she interacts on campus.
“I just wanted to go to a school that was going to enhance me and give me a good education,” said Ahmad. “So coming here, it was kind of: ‘Oh, there's not that much of a Muslim population and oh, there's not that many Pakistanis, Indians, any Middle Eastern people like I am.’
“But at the same time I took that as a this is a learning opportunity for me. I want to know what other people are doing and I want to be able to put myself in different environments. I like to tell them about me and all that I believe in and all that my culture, my race, my religion bring. I like to think we mesh together because of it, and I like to think that because I'm in their lives they're also learning about all the stuff that I can bring to them.
“It's more interesting to be around people who are different than you, because you get to learn about them and they get to learn about you. It makes your life a little bit more colorful.”
At this point, it’s not even something Shirmeen thinks about.
“It's one of the last things that crosses my mind,” she says. “I'm just Shirmeen. I don't think of myself as being different. I think of myself as being united with all the other students here on campus, and the faculty and administration. And at the end of the day we are not here to make ourselves different, but we're here to progress farther together. And that's the thing that inspires me.”
Student Government is far from Ahmad’s only extracurricular activity at Eastern; she’s a part of the Warbler yearbook staff, secretary of the Society of Future Journalists, has served as a resident assistant and as a leader for new student orientations, and is an Honors College student who will attend the National Collegiate Honors Council for the third year.
Ahmad says it’s definitely not a family trait to be so outgoing and involved person, but it’s one she’s had since elementary school and continues honing at every opportunity.
“I want to be able to say that I left my mark,” said Ahmad. “I didn't just come, grab my degree, and leave … I did something. It’s really refreshing to know that everyone around me is encouraging me to do that, not questioning it and wondering why.”
It’s ambitious talk, but there’s no doubting the sincerity of the person doing the speaking. It’s evident in everything she’s done since arriving in Charleston, from choosing to double major to getting involved in so many other activities. And it’ll most likely be evident in whatever she does upon receiving her degrees.
“I just like to think about the future,” said Ahmad. “At the end of the day when I'm completely done with (school), what do I want to be able to tell people I did? Those goals are always the ones that drive me every single day. I want to be able to say that I accomplished it and I want to be able to say that I did it, I made something of myself.
“I want people to know that I'm here to make the most of everything that I'm doing and make the most of my time at Eastern.”
And there’s little doubt that Ahmad regrets nothing about her choice to come be a part of the EIU family.
“EIU, to me, is a place to have fun … my second home,” said Ahmad. “It's a place where I've learned more about myself than I think I ever could have. And I've learned about things that I can do, the potential I have, and being around people who are also going through that same process.
“That's just what EIU is about. That's why we're here -- it's to become ourselves. And EIU is this great place that really makes us feel like we are welcomed and makes us feel like we are the best that we can be.”
