A group of fifth graders in the Philippines made a decision that had far-reaching consequences for the UNC-system Association of Student Governments when they elected Arjay Quizon to represent them on student council.
Quizon, now senior-vice president of ASG, grew up and attended school in the Philippines.
He first became involved in student government in elementary school and has continued to serve through his time in graduate school.
Quizon said his family moved to the United States after his father found a job in North Carolina. His parents did not want to send him away to live on a university campus, so he had to choose one nearby.
“The best decision that I’ve made is to go to UNC-Pembroke,” he said. “I was able to make more of a difference going to UNC-P than going to any other school in the system.”
Quizon became a student senator at UNC-P in 2008 while pursuing his undergraduate degree in chemistry. He then served as student body president for two years.
He began attending UNC-system Board of Governors meetings as a UNC-P delegate when he was still a senator.
“I’ve only missed one meeting since then,” he said.
Kimberly Brassard, who worked with Quizon as his vice president at UNC-P, said working with him was a lot of fun, even when the workload was substantial.
“He loved what he was doing,” she said in an email. “He is good at getting people involved and excited about the work SGA does.”
Students would often approach him on campus to talk about student government issues and questions, on one occasion following him to class in order to finish their conversation, she said.
“He is also very informed,” she said. “I can’t remember a time when he didn’t have the answer to whatever administrative or constitutional question I had.”
Quizon said he decided to run for ASG senior vice president after being asked by Atul Bhula, now the ASG president, to run for the position alongside him.
“I believed in what Atul had been doing for the past year and I believed in the platform,” he said.
His work as ASG senior-vice president is a way for him to stay involved in student government while earning his graduate degree at UNC-P.
“I really want to make a difference for students,” he said.
As senior vice president, Quizon said his job is to facilitate communication among ASG’s executive officers on a day-to-day basis and make sure everything runs smoothly.
Bhula said Quizon interacts with executive officers more than his predecessors, including Bhula himself.
Quizon has a different perspective than many other students because of his background growing up in the Philippines, Bhula said.
Quizon said he and Bhula want to increase the involvement of the senior vice president.
“The senior VP has not been as visible as the senior VP could be,” Quizon said. “I want the senior VP to be more visible this year.”
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