By Liam Higgins

The position of vice president of the SMCC Student Senate has been held by Mariam Jabbar since Jan. 23, 2018. From Iraq and currently in her second year at SMCC, studying to be a surgical tech, Mariam has always wanted to be a surgeon, and intendeds to work at Maine Medical Center, as well as continue her education after she finishes at SMCC.

As part of a student-leaders panel, she proposed to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges her idea to remove the FIGs from the required curriculum, believing they should be offered in the senior year of high school.

Joshua Parks is the Senate director of public relations, and he has held the position since the beginning of the 2018 spring Semester. Coming from Saco, Maine, he is in his second year at SMCC, studying political science.

He feels strongly that it is his duty as an officer to bring the SMCC community together, and does so by spreading the word about student activities and assuring they get appropriate coverage. A recent accomplishment of his was an amendment made to the Student Senate Constitution that lists the disabled as a “protected group.”

While considering pursuing International Studies at USM, he also wants to take time to finish writing his novel. Mariam’s main goal as an officer is pretty straightforward: Get students involved.  “Students complain about so many negative things in our school,” she says, “yet no one steps up and gets involved with the only club that can change many things on campus. We are a democratic government, but we are unable to make changes without having a large amount of students involved to share their opinions and concerns.”

Both officers believe big change could come from more students joining the Senate. Josh goes as far as to say it is where your hopes and dreams come true.