When Jim Ceresnak is passionate about
something, it’s no secret. You can tell
from his face. Eyebrows scrunched, talking
fast with a Red Bull in hand, he pushes the idea
around in his head until he’s ready to voice it publicly
to inspire change.
And Ceresnak shouldn’t have a problem having his voice heard next
year — he’s the 2009-10 student body president.
But politics wasn’t always his forte.
After graduating from high school, Ceresnak attended the
University of Georgia with the intention of graduating with
a journalism degree.
“My parents were pushing hard for me to go to Carolina,”
Ceresnak said. “But it wasn’t for me.”
Ceresnak said he was editor of his high school newspaper
for two years and even had the chance to be on air at a
local radio station when he was in middle school because
he called in so much — the hosts then invited him to be
on the sports show.
At his Catholic high school, in addition to his involvement
with the newspaper, Ceresnak was also on both the
baseball team and the swim team.
However, after spending some time in Georgia, Ceresnak
realized that UGA was not going to be in his future despite
his heavy involvement with Delta Tau Delta.
“I didn’t really have any direction there. I didn’t really have
any focus,” he said. “I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do
with my life.”
So he transferred to UNC-Charlotte the second semester his
sophomore year, pulled up his grades and saved money, and
then transferred to N.C. State.
“It ended up working out,” Ceresnak said. “It was really amazing
how a lot of hard work really paid off.”
And that’s when he started to become engrossed in the world
of politics.
“I ended up getting an internship in Raleigh that summer [before
transferring to N.C. State] at the General Assembly,” Ceresnak,
a junior in political science, said. “It was the best thing that’s ever
happened to me. I found out that I really wanted to be involved in
political science and N.C. State seemed like a great option for me.”
Sen. Tom Apodaca (R), whom Ceresnak serves as intern for, said he
is sure Ceresnak will do a good job as student body president.
“I’ve watched him mature,” Apodaca said. “He’s become more confident
as he goes.”
Apodaca said he tries to stress the importance of serving their constituents
to his interns, and Ceresnak agreed that he learned that from
working under Apodaca.
“The main thing I want them to get out is we’re here for the people
who elected us,” Apodaca said. “We’re here helping them navigate
the bureaucracy of government.”
Ceresnak said public service is really important to him and that’s
why he decided to take his political activity even further and volunteer
with Students for Pat McCrory for Governor.
“One of the reasons I love Pat McCrory is so much is because
I feel like the guy is genuine and he does the job that is meant to be
done in his position. He’s an ego-free sort of leader who is really a
public servant first,” Ceresnak said.
That was the extent of Ceresnak’s involvement with the University
though, minus some work with the College Republicans.
At least until he decided to run for student body president.
“It wasn’t something I was thinking about over Christmas break. It
wasn’t even something I was thinking about at the beginning of the
semester,” Ceresnak said.
But his relationship with the 2008-09 student body president, Jay
Dawkins, put the idea in his head. Dawkins is Ceresnak’s roommate.
“Being so close to Jay and being with Jay so much, I understand how
hard the kid works. I see how he’s not there — he’s never at home. He’s
always in the office, getting stuff done. And the decision I had to make
was, ‘am I going to be willing and able to commit as much time and
