Joshua Rubin, a senior biology major from Dallas, Texas, is currently serving as the president of Student Senate. He has served with Student Senate since his freshman year and it was one of the first things he got involved in on campus.
“I decided to sign up for Freshman Class President the first week I was at Ouachita and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made,” Rubin said. “This allowed me to get involved in Student Senate during my four years at Ouachita. I knew I wanted to be involved in Ouachita and make the most of my time here, but most importantly I wanted to be involved in an organization that would challenge me and contribute to the Ouachita community through different events.”
Rubin loves the presence Student Senate has on campus and the events it puts on to serve students and bring campus together.
“[Student Senate] host[s] different events on campus, like BOTR Guarding the Tiger, which helps bring all students together for a whole week and allows everyone to get to know each other a little better,” Rubin said. “[Other events include] Miss OBU which gives young women at Ouachita an opportunity to receive scholarships and move on to other pageants like Miss Arkansas; [and] the Academic Awards Banquet which allows us to reward and recognize students who have achieved academic excellence; [and] Traffic Courts which allow students a chance to void or reduce any unfair tickets, and much more.”
In Rubin’s work with Student Senate, he looked up to older students who served before him.
“I guess I was inspired by the two Student Senate Presidents before me, Justin Young and Lindsey Fowler,” Rubin said. “Seeing Justin and Lindsey during meetings and even outside of meetings made me realize that that is what I wanted to do in order to help make Ouachita a better place for my fellow students.”
Rubin believes serving others throughout his college has experiences has been one of the most rewarding parts of his time at Ouachita, and he encourages other students to give it a try.
“The feeling of sacrificing my time to help others and plan events for my fellow students is so rewarding to me, so if you ever feel the same way when helping others then go for it,” Rubin said. Another piece of advice would be to not get caught up in all of your responsibilities and to stay humble. These are some things that I’ve had to learn that have helped me so much in any leadership roles I’ve been in.”
by Sarah G. Hays
