By Nitu Farhin
As May rolls around and we get ready to pass the torch to the next generation of Undergraduate Student Government (USG) leaders, I’ve been thinking a lot about these past two years. What a ride it’s been. I want to leave you with two lessons I’m taking with me—lessons I hope speak to you as much as they’ve grounded me.
Learning to Set Expectations Without Burning Out
I joined USG thinking I had a good idea of what I was getting into. I’d held leadership roles before and had been involved in clubs, but I quickly realized USG was on another level. The impact we had, the scope of what we touched on campus, and the responsibility that came with it were bigger than I expected.
Serving first as Liaison and Press Director, then as Vice President, pushed me to rethink how I approached expectations. Between school, family, other commitments, and USG, it’s easy to feel like you’re always falling short. I had to learn that it’s okay to set goals that stretch you without stretching you too thin.
It also becomes important to recognize just how limited your time is as a student leader to make a lasting impact. Giving yourself the time to lay solid foundations and making sure to communicate openly and document ongoing projects becomes one of the best ways to ensure the next generation of USG leaders and other student leaders can carry that work forward.
In my role as VP, I created the Round-Table Projects in the Senate. It might seem like a small initiative, but it gave us a way to go from “here’s a problem” to “here’s a plan,” even if a formal resolution wasn’t the outcome. I hope it becomes a tool future senators can use to break big problems into manageable steps and bring more visibility to issues that don’t always get a spotlight.
Keep Your Creativity Alive, Even When It’s Quiet
When I became VP, I also stepped away from my role as Cartoonist at the BC Vanguard. It was strange letting go of that title after two years, but I’m grateful for what it gave me. Drawing comics, my little corner of creativity, was a way to process everything happening around me and bring this into my art.
As VP, my time for art shrank. But that’s when I realized how important it is to make space for creativity, even in small ways. Whether it’s doodling, writing, or something entirely different, giving yourself room to create helps you stay grounded and connected to yourself. It may feel as though it is another task on your schedule, but replacing your doom-scrolling with a hobby that allows you to express yourself without restraints will bring peace.
As my time as Cartoonist transitioned into my time as VP, I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye, so here it is. Thank you to Gabriela Flores, Michela Arlia, Serin Sarsour, Kate Dempsey, and Paulina Gajewski for your encouragement, support, and for allowing me to put @frillygarbage art on a bigger platform than I could have imagined.
These lessons didn’t show up all at once. They came to me slowly, with time, through trial and error, and with the support of the people around me.
Thank you, Noam Abrahams, and our amazing cabinet members, for the way you led, showed up, and supported me at every step.
Thank you, USG senators, for diving into the work and showing up every Tuesday! Your energy, care, and commitment to students and their issues on campus kept all of us going. You’ve shown up not just in meetings but for the entire campus, and that means everything.
Thank you, Huda Ayaz, Royta Iftakher, Jaia Jones, and Iqura Naheed, for being the help squad I could always count on. Every check-in, every laugh, every word of encouragement, thank you.
And to Taseen Islam—my Clerk of the Senate and fellow Friday Iftar member—thank you for everything! You kept things running, gave me space when I needed it, and reminded me I didn’t have to carry everything alone.
This isn’t just a goodbye. It’s a thank you. A reflection. A reminder to lead with intention, protect your creativity, and lean on the people who lift you. USG has shaped me in ways I never expected—and I’ll carry that forward.