Technician was given the opportunity to sit down with the 2017-18 Union Activities Board President Kam Risku and talk to her about her goals for the upcoming school year. UAB is a student-led organization that plans events for students of all backgrounds. It’s made up of six different committees who put on varied programs throughout the school year.

How did you become interested in UAB and did you have any involvement before being elected president?

I initially became interested in UAB through an email, they were looking for someone to fill a position halfway through my freshman year. I ended up not getting that position, but I became really interested in the committee, so I started going to the different events, and when the yearly applications came out, I applied to be the diversity activities chair. I was fortunate enough to get that position, which I did my sophomore year. Last year, I was vice president and this year I became president.

What made you want to run for UAB president?

I’ve been around UAB for so long and I’ve seen so much progression. I was really inspired by my first year president and how passionate he was about us, our programs and just in UAB in general. That really pushed me to be more passionate. I loved my job and I liked my advisors, so in my mind this was a natural next time to take and have the opportunity to serve people.

What are the key aspects of your role?

Right now, I’m trying to get us ready for our fall retreat, which is where we do a lot of our onboarding. I’m also getting us ready for Wolfpack Welcome Week, we have about seven different gigs that we do, so that’s a lot to keep everyone on task.

During the year, my number one goal is to make sure that things are running smoothly for everyone and that we’re putting out fires before they even start. That just means following behind people and making sure everyone has the resources they need. I’m also going to meetings, being present, and advocating on behalf of the organization and our needs.

Do you have any plans on how to get students more involved and aware of the smaller events, other than Homecoming and Wolfstock?

We have a solid, consistent audience for our more entertainment-based programming, we have frequent trivia nights and karaoke that people come to and relax.

We do want to focus more on getting people to come to our smaller, more educational type events. Sometimes that’s seen as a drag after going to classes all day — you don’t want to go learn something new. So we’re looking into ways to make things more innovative and make them more palatable, so it’s not like you’re just attending another class.

Thankfully, this new first-year students have to live on campus rule will probably work out in our favor a lot. There will be a lot of people on campus, and UAB does something almost every week. We just have to find a way to market ourselves in a way that is positive and engaging. We’re fun to be around no matter what kind of event it is. So our number one goal is to reintroduce ourselves.

What is your number one goal as president?

My number one goal isn’t an external goal, it’s more of an internal to us goal. My first year was a very family-orientated environment, where we were all friends and here to support each other. I think that came directly from our president and his personality. That pushed us to work really, really well together as a team. That’s something I want to be able to influence. Yes, we’re co-workers and we’re working a job, but our structure and the way we interact is a lot more intimate at times than a regular job.

So, I want to find ways that we can support each other both in our roles and outside the confines of the UAB suite. That relationship that we have will inevitably translate into the type of events that we’re doing and the way we present ourselves. If the whole board is at an event, people are going to notice that you all have your polos on and people are going to want to be around an environment like that. I kind of just want us to be a family and knit together.

That’s kind of my biggest goal, but I do love seeing the homecoming concert so that will be fun to watch this year instead of having to plan the whole thing.

What is one thing you would say to the student body to get them to come to events?

There’s something for everyone, at some point in time throughout the whole year, there is something for you. There’s so many events and so many different things that you are bound to find something that you want to come to and want to be a part of.

I just want people to push themselves out of their boundaries and just come to events, even if you’re by yourself. I guarantee, if you come to an event by yourself, you’re not going to leave by yourself. That’s another goal we have internally. We want to make sure that at every event, people are leaving with something more than just a prize.

I just want students to know that there’s something for everyone and that we’re cognizant of our students fees and we reach the bigger audience and the bigger NC State.