Secretarial candidate: Kyle Hudson
Name: Kyle Hudson
Party: The Representation Party
Hometown: Ballston Spa, N.Y.
High School: Ballston Spa High School
Major: Business Administration
Age: 18
Clubs/Organizations: Investment Club, Student Senate
Why did you decide to run for this position?
“I decided that I was good at communicating with people and facilitating issues which is a part of the reason why I got involved with Student Senate. Now, my goal is to elevate that status [in Student Senate] and oversee the change that can come to Hudson Valley. Other than that, a lot of [Hudson’s decision to run] had to do with just being able to be a part of the community and see the change that’s happening within the community as a leader rather than just a student.”
What are your qualifications to run?
“I am the president of the Investment Club. I have been the president since the first week of February. Before that, I was vice president of the Investment Club. I just came from high school to college and that was obviously a big step. I went to early college and I was a leader there. We did a lot of group work and most of the time my name was at the forefront of the assignment because I was always someone who was willing to reach out to the community and business leaders around the world. I’ve talked with people around the world. I’ve talked with people in Chile, Argentina and Germany about renewable energy. So, a lot of those skills moved into the same position I’m running for now as secretary of Student Senate.”
Overall, what is your greatest asset?
“My ability to communicate without being nervous. I have practiced doing that for a long time. Really being able to, in a moment’s notice, strike up conversation. Being able to facilitate someone’s concerns to a larger crowd and a lot of that came from early college. We did public expos and you can’t prepare for what an investor is going to ask you. They can ask you something that is totally not even relevant to your project, but you have to be able to tie it back to your project. So I had to learn very quickly how to do that. I’ve been on the news for it. For our project, the local news walked in and asked if they could record us on an interview.” Obviously, you don’t have much time to think about it. They’re firing off questions, so I would say that my strongest asset is communication.
Please provide three adjectives which describe your ability to lead.
“Friendly. You can’t really get anywhere in leadership if you can’t be friends with somebody or be able to reason with them. Obviously, being in a leadership position, you’re not always going to get along. There’s always going to be someone who disagrees with you. So, to be able to be friendly in that manner and not let it disrupt the overall agenda is important.”
“Caring. I care about everyone’s concerns on campus. The decisions that we make today aren’t going to affect yesterday; they only affect tomorrow and the years to come. So we need to be able to make decisions today through the concerns that people have. We need people who car enough to listen to those concerns that might affect the future classes that come through.”
“Focused. I am focused on making sure that everything we put forth is true to ourselves and the school’s values. We all should take part in making everyday lives and operations easier.”
Name five initiatives you’d like to focus on in your position.
“Club initiative. I see the opportunities that clubs provide that people aren’t either in tuned to knowing that we have or feel like there isn’t necessarily a club that represents them. That would be my biggest objective. I want to make sure that people are aware of every opportunity that they have on campus as well as in the community.”
“Community service or community involvement. I want people to be able to get out into the community more and express themselves in the community. Whether it be community service, visiting family, associating with other people, or learning something in their job field. Community involvement is key. We’re at a school that comes from all different areas. I live 45 minutes away, so my community is different from the communities that live here. I want everyone to feel a part of their own community when they leave here.”
“Better description of future goals and honing focus skills. I’ve heard from so many people that they need what they want to do or their unsure and that’s why I want people to use the opportunity they have here to really settle down and focus on what they want to do. Student Senate can definitely do that by creating opportunities that give people the chance to experience things and set up workshops that help people focus in on what it is that they really want to do.”
“Create an equal atmosphere. I think that the current leadership has done a really great job with that, but we have to sustain that feeling over a long period of time instead of day-to-day. We need to focus on making sure that everyone has an equal opportunity in nearly everything from the classroom to club opportunities and community outreach.
“Appreciate student achievement. We have a lot of achievements here that go noticed and we have some that go unnoticed. We really want to make sure that people feel appreciated for the things they provide to Hudson Valley. Whether it be as a leader of a club or they’ve done something spectacular within a community. If it’s within their first few weeks of being here, it is something that should be mentioned. I want to acknowledge their personal achievements. I would like to see more updates on the Merits pages. There are people that I know of on club e-boards and their Merit pages don’t acknowledge that. If they wanted to go to a job and say, ‘Look I’m the vice president or president of a club,’ it’s more or less your word against what they believe. If you can bring them the Merit pages we have provided to use as a service, they can print that out and say the school has recognized their position.”
What is the biggest problem with student life at Hudson Valley?
“The connectivity of people. I think that a lot of people here go class-to-class. I think that we could be building much stronger connections because once we’re out of here, connections are really everything at that point. The connections that you can build now are going to be that much more important in two or four years. I would definitely say that connecting is the biggest issue with the school right now.”