AJ CIRCHIRILLO
Clean victory for new Club Counsil President
No contest for Talia Elmalia as she took on the new title as ASO Club Counsel President on Friday April 23, 2010, promising Pierce College students her support for future clubs.
Elmalia has spent her entire life in Calabasas, California. She currently lives there with her family; two twin half sisters that are each seven years old and another younger sister who is sixteen. Having been the oldest sister of four children, leadership qualities have become second nature for her.
“I chose this because I had a lot of ideas in mind, not only to encourage students to create clubs but to help students join them” Said Elmalia. She became interested in planning events when she worked in a hospital, coordinating activities for the elderly.
One of Elmalia’s many ideas to get more clubs noticed is to add a club list to the school schedule of classes that come out every semester, that way students can see that there are clubs at Pierce and find one that interests them. “No one knows that there are 35 clubs out there”, said Elmalia.
An event that Elmalia would like to plan as one of her first orders of business is a “Club Olympic Event” where the different clubs on campus will compete in several athletic events. This idea is meant to get the clubs together, get the student body involved in participating, and possibly generate new members and clubs.
“She is very respected within the ASO, she has a lot of support for the position; she’ll be just fine” said Brad Saenz, who is the ASO Faculty Advisor. Out of the clubs at Pierce, Elmalia’s favorite is the international students club. “Two weeks ago we had an Indian event, it is fun to learn other cultures other than your own,” said Elmalia.
The current Club Council President, Cindy Gerges was very supportive of Elma. “It took me by surprise that she wanted to run, I do think that she will do a great job and get things done”, said Gerges.
The two were classmates in High school, both carrying responsibility within Pierce College. When asked what advice she would give Elmalia to be successful in her new position, Gerges replied, “Some events are better than others, they can be discouraging. You have to pick yourself back up and try again, be very persistent”.
Dreams of flying off to NYU for college float in Elmalia’s mind, however her parents would like to keep her nearby. Future plans for the 18-year-old include possibly getting into the family real estate business or going to USC. Elmalia loves to act; she was in commercials as a child, but cannot put acting before school.
Any group of students can start their own club at Pierce. There are clubs of all sorts at Pierce presently, if a student were to have an idea for a club they merely must contact the ASO and Elmalia would direct them toward the right path. She concluded by saying, “anyone who wants to start a club should start one; if they are worried about the start up cost, we will find a way to help with the cost of posters and anything else they might need”.