My time as a Senator was the highlight of my 1L year.  It offered me an opportunity to get involved and have an impact, and to meet great people like then Executive Vice President Brett Sheats. I was nervous at the first few meetings but eventually found my footing and felt that I had contributed to the school's functioning at the end of the year.

As a 2L I felt more confident and even tried my hand at writing legislation.  I took on facilities and a more substantial role in the finance committee.  The more involved I was, the more I learned and the more I enjoyed myself.

As Vice President I am excited for all of our new Senators to take on the challenges I have enjoyed so much the past two years and to occupy the mentorship role that Brett Sheats and Rahul Reddy played for me.  This year should be very interesting because in addition to our rookie 1L Senators, we have a larger than usual number of new upperclassmen senators.  Several incumbents left the Senate for SBA's executive board (myself included) leaving vacancies for several impassioned newcomers.

I was a little nervous about having to show the ropes to so many first-termers but after a successful (and epic) first meeting my apprehensions have all been allayed.  The first meeting is one of the most crucial meetings we have because it is when the Senate must ratify the budget and hear budgetary appeals from any student organization unhappy with their allotment.  Until this happens no student group has access to their funds.

We take the dispersing of funds very seriously on the SBA, and after spending two years on the Senate Finance Committee, playing an active part in the financial process was one of the aspects of the Vice Presidency that attracted me to the job.   It is extremely important to me that student groups feel heard, play an active role in their budget requests, and all have enough money and support to put on the kind of programming they want to.  I was thrilled to find that same passion and sense of fairness in each and every new and returning Senator.

The meeting lasted over two hours and during it we heard three budget appeals from the Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ), the Nota Bene and the Student Health Law Association (SHLA).  Each group gave thoughtful presentations and each was met by an onslaught of zealous senators anxious to make the right choices.  In the end we were able to offer more money to the LSRJ and the Nota Bene and assure the SHLA that should they need more ad hoc funding was always a possibility.

I was proud of the way each senator interacted with these student groups and I was impressed by their thoughtfulness in asking questions and making decisions.  I am confident that their zeal for the process of student government will serve the school well in all the important decisions they have yet to make this year.  Even our new upperclassmen Senators will be great mentors to our incoming 1Ls who join us this week.

We will be tackling some big issues this year, from considerations of whether to publicize the budget, and continued monitoring of the graded LRW program, to ongoing budget hearings in the form of ad hoc and OOPS fund requests.  I will be asking the Senators to study portions of the SBA Bylaws and Constitution which need editing-specifically the clauses outlining the number of Senators to be elected each year given that there are now six rather than five 1L sections.  We have also received a great suggestion that in the future we have a Senate seat for transfer students. I'm confident that this will be a productive school year and I encourage people to come observe our meetings if you don't believe me!

The next Senate meeting is September 30th at 8:30 pm in L301.  Senate minutes are posted on the SBA website: gwsba.com.