You might say that ASWU President William Garcia, a senior majoring in Architecture, was destined for the field. William’s grandfather inspired him to consider Architecture when he was barely out of kindergarten.
For the Arleta High graduate, the first in his family to attend college, Woodbury came into view thanks to a high school homeroom teacher and a Woodbury alum who happened to be a recent Architecture graduate.
As President, William oversees the ASWU Executive Board, as well as the ASWU team of senators, interns and project managers, but his real job within the organization is to serve as the face of ASWU. That translates to representing the student body by communicating with faculty and staff, and through that effort, meeting the student body’s needs/wants.
“Being involved in ASWU has made the biggest difference in my educational career,” he says.
“ASWU has taught me how to present myself professionally and speak in a professional manner, which has helped in architecture reviews. Woodbury itself has made that even more accessible, with class sizes small enough so I’m known by my professor and able to speak to the professor comfortably. The university has widened my scope of career choices, showing me that the word architecture has much more meaning than most would think.”
William, who also serves as Delta Sigma Phi New Member Educator, is bullish on ASWU’s value as a door-opener to both university life and life beyond the university. “As the motto goes, ‘ASWU is for the Students, by the Students!’” he says. He sees the organization as an empowerment vehicle, a problem-solving mechanism and a way to tangibly enrich student life. “Students should appreciate how many opportunities they have to take on leadership positions, and make changes within the Woodbury community,” William says.
Not bad for someone who didn’t have a clue about ASWU when he arrived on campus. At the suggestion of a friend, he joined the organization and let his innate curiosity do the rest. In time, he advanced from intern, to two terms as Executive Vice President and now President.
“This is all because I fell in love with the possibilities of change that I could provide/facilitate being in ASWU,” he says. “I have always been the type of person who tries to make everyone around me happy, and ASWU has been the perfect outlet for that aspect of my life.”