Nicholas Zalewski recently finished his first year in the M.A. in European Union Studies program, after having graduated cum laude from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2019 with a B.A. in political science, global studies, and Italian. During the next academic year, Nicholas will be working as a research assistant with the European Union Center and serving on the U-C Senate’s committee on admissions and as a graduate senator for Illinois Student Government (ISG).

“I was interested in [the Illinois Student Government] as an undergrad but never had the chance to run,” Nicholas says. While undergraduate student senators are typically elected to represent a group of majors within their colleges, graduate senators represent the Graduate College, the College of Law, or the College of Veterinary Medicine. The purpose of ISG is to advocate on behalf of student interests to the University of Illinois administration.

“A lot of grad students don’t realize that we have this opportunity,” says Nicholas, who was elected to the ISG Senate as a write-in candidate after speaking with graduate students who were planning to vote.

Read more about Nicholas's work on the ISG Senate and the U-C Senate committee on admissions, as well as his advice for incoming graduate students, on the EUC blog.