Four first-years take seats on Student Congress

Rachel Augustine

Rachel Augustine, a Peace, War and Defense and Mathematical Decision Sciences double major from Greensboro, was elected as a district four representative, covering Hinton James, Koury, Ehringhaus and Horton residence halls.

“Yesterday was a good day for me because I had a calculus exam that went well, and then I got elected,” Augustine said.

Augustine said she decided to run for Student Congress to help influence large-scale decisions, especially in funding.

“I’m really interested in finance and how the school spends the money that it has,” Augustine said.

Augustine said she is the only person who is an elected representative and a legislative assistant. She said legislative assistants are appointed and help conduct research for Student Congress court cases.

She said she plans to use her math and politics education at UNC to work in politics after graduation.

“As a PWAD major and a data analyst, I want to do political analysis," Augustine said. "It could be voting analysis, international relations kind of stuff. I could do statistical analysis in politics."

Stanley Sun

Stanley Sun, from Portland, Oregon, is a pre-business first-year representing district one, or North Campus.

“I want to become a leader,” Sun said. “I want to offer visibility for Asian-American students in terms of leadership positions and break the norm that we are just quiet, white-collar workers, and that we do have a voice, and we do have a presence on campus.”

Sun said involvement in politics is a recent interest of his that didn’t begin until he joined his high school debate club.

“There are a lot of social issues that have come to my attention as a result of broadening my world view after debate,” Sun said. “That is something that is going to stick with me for a while.”

Sun said his favorite hobby is art, especially graphic design.

“I’m part of the marketing manager team for my community government,” Sun said. “I’m also the official graphic designer for Sonder Market.”

Tarik Woods

Tarik Woods, from Salisbury, North Carolina, is representing district four in Student Congress.

Woods said he campaigned for his position by talking to students outside of SASB and handing out business cards saying “Tarik Woods 4 Student Congress” that included his contact information.

When asked about his feelings on the win, Woods responded without hesitation — “Normal.”

Woods said he was student body president at his high school and is currently the chairperson for the Junior Ambassador People to People program, a North Carolina junior senator for the Young Politicians of America organization and a prosecutorial teen attorney for North Carolina.

“Working with student government, finding issues and solving them so that they aren’t just temporarily fixed, but they are fixed for the next years to come is very important to me,” Woods said.

Woods’s plan to run for student body president, and then President of the United States, is as serious as the “We the People” tattoo on his back.

“The people, the people, the people,” Woods said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Lydia Farro

First-year Lydia Farro was also elected to represent district four in Student Congress.

“I have been in leadership positions throughout high school, and I always really enjoyed seeing the impact that my voice had,” Farro said. “When I first joined student government I didn’t understand I could actually make a change, and I didn’t know I would really value that until I started doing it.”

Farro said she is on the social media and T-shirt committees of the executive branch in Student Congress and is the marketing manager for her community government.

She said she is very interested in graphic design and is the illustrator of a soon-to-be published children’s book. Farro is a server at Mellow Mushroom as well. 

“I rapped ‘Suicidal Thoughts’ by Biggie Smalls on my interview for Mellow Mushroom and got the job right afterward,” Farro said.

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