Jack Hesser, president
When he was four years old, the president of the Student Government Association made a contract with himself stating that after college, he would move to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
And 17 years later, Jack Hesser, a senior microbiology and botany major, plans to keep that promise.
“I’m going to do it because I don’t want four-year-old Jack to be disappointed in me. That would be the worst,” Hesser said. “He would be so pissed at me, like you don’t even understand.”
He loves his four-year-old self, and because of that, plans to spend two years in L.A. before going to graduate school or working for student affairs.
Hesser has always been fascinated by acting and even has a couple of independent movies under his belt such as “Harvey Putter and the Ridiculous Premise” and “Strange Brew.”
“I think it’d be so cool to eventually have the name recognition to make impactful documentaries and have people watch them just because of your name,” Hesser said.
If Hesser had been a part of the theatre program at Ball State, he said he would not have been as involved in other leadership positions such as being the president of his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, and general chair of the Homecoming Steering Committee.
However, he said his different life experiences can help him tap into different roles and characters.
After his freshman year at Ball State, Hesser traveled with a group of students and five American veterans to Vietnam.
“I would say traveling abroad has influenced me more than anything else in terms of my cultural perspective and how I interact with people,” he said.
The opportunities he has had to meet different people with various backgrounds has allowed him to become passionate about student government.
“I’m looking forward to connecting with students and giving them an avenue for their voice,” he said.
Richu Aby, vice president
To the vice president of Student Government Association, Mohandas Gandhi is more than a figure in a history textbook. Her grandfather worked for him, promoting his movement in Southern India.
Senior international business major Richu Aby was born in Kerala, on the southwestern coast of India.
Her grandfather promoted the congregational party and the movement led by Gandhi at the university level, so people would be informed.
“Sometimes people ask me where I get my political kick from, and thinking about it now, it’s probably from my grandfather,” Aby said.
Aby attended Catholic school in India until her family moved to the northwest side of Chicago in 2000. She learned some English in India because of the tourists in the area.
“Learning the language was hard, and picking up the culture was weird,” she said. “But it was easier for me than others because I was so young and I’m good at picking up on things.”
She has always had a strong bond with her family, mainly her siblings and 11 cousins.
“I can constantly ask them what I should do,” Aby said. “Even during the elections I was like, ‘Guys, this just happened. I think this is the best course of action, what do you guys think?’ … I am very Christian so they always help me as [a] Christian and what to do.”
Aby said people are already starting to come to her with their problems.
“I am confident that I can help these people, and that is my intention,” she said. “Even if it’s a challenge, I am excited about that and so I am happy to be in the position.”
Austin Acel, secretary
As the first match of the intramural volleyball championship finished up, the secretary of the Student Government Association stepped over toward his fraternity brothers and fans, encouraging them to be louder.
The nearly 60-person crowd at Tuesday’s volleyball game was about half the population of Austin Acel’s hometown of Guys Mills, Pa.
“Living in the middle of nowhere, it was my family and myself,” he said. “Any chance I got to go outside of the setting I was in to experience something new was awesome.”
Acel grew up on a dairy farm and often has trouble convincing people his family has 200 dairy cows. Living in such a rural area, he said, made it difficult to meet new people.
After living in a town with just over 100 people, Acel made the leap to Muncie, a town of 70,000.
Acel was the first person in his family to attend college and the first in his county to attend Ball State.
“I came in not knowing a single person and I love the experience I got,” he said.
During his freshmen year he got involved in hall council and club volleyball in order to quell some of his homesickness.
“I wanted to immerse myself in the community and tried to get to know as many people as I could,” he said.
One of Acel’s major milestones since attending Ball State is becoming a founding father of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi.
He said he didn’t have any intentions to be involved in Greek Life until he got the opportunity to establish a new chapter of a fraternity.
Acel said he is excited to meet new people during Atlas’ time in office and is looking forward to hearing students’ backgrounds and what they have done at Ball State.
Meagan Mullen, treasurer
The treasurer of the Student Government Association not only loves the “Harry Potter” series, she sees herself in the characters.
Senior Meagan Mullen said people often compare her to Hermione Granger or Ginny Weasley from the series.
Mullen has felt connected to the books since she first heard the audiotapes at 8 years old.
“I feel like [being an author gets] overlooked as a profession, but [authors] are really ingenious,” she said. “I’m obsessed with children’s books and young adult books, so it’d be fun to write one of those.”
The series has encouraged her to write her own novel someday, but it also inspired her to see some of the characters’ traits in herself.
Although she considers herself similar to Granger, only nicer, and Weasley, except louder, she hopes to have an impact in people’s lives like Professor McGonagall.
“I would strive to be her and be that impressionistic person in someone’s life and be able to make a difference,” she said. “If I could find my little Harry Potter that I can take under my wing, that would be fantastic.”
Mullen tries to have that impact through her activities at the university.
Her fondest memory from freshman year was participating in box city, one of RHA’s events, as one of the donation directors with Jack Hesser, SGA president. She enjoys interacting with students.
“I am not any more special than anyone else. I want freshmen to come up and talk to me,” she said. “When I help other people reach their goal, that’s me accomplishing a goal.”
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