Senate President’s leadership skills polished by Hudson Valley

Grace Sgambettera
Staff Writer

Involvement may not seem like a surprising quality for the President of Hudson Valley’s Student Senate to have, but for Nathanael Savasta it’s been a learning process.

In high school, Savasta said he focused on sports and his social life more than anything else and didn’t apply himself academically.

All that changed for him when he got to Hudson Valley. “I had a change of heart,” said Savasta. “I really began focusing on academics, but I also wanted to get involved in clubs and student life on campus,” Savasta said.

In addition to his work with the Student Senate, Savasta served as freshmen class president last year. He is currently a trustee on the board of trustees, Vice President of the Entrepreneurship Club and the Vice President of the Investment Club as well.

“I didn’t want to focus on myself anymore,” said Savasta. He felt that he wasn’t really gaining the satisfaction he had hoped after high school, so he instead learned to help others.
“Basically, I just enjoyed my first couple weeks at Hudson Valley so much and I wanted other people to have that great experience,” he said.

Savasta, now a second year Business Administration major, said that the Senate as an organization is “all about students.” The Senate is responsible for managing clubs by approving special funds and budgets. However, Savasta said that it doesn’t just stop with clubs. “It’s all about Hudson Valley and what the students can do to better Hudson Valley.”

According to Savasta, whether it’s increasing student engagement, or implementing things, like maps, that are needed on campus, Student Senate plays a part. “Whatever we can really do to better the experience for the students during the term. That’s what Student Senate’s about,” he said.

As President, his role is to both direct and delegate operations, which he said was no surprise. However, he did add that it’s a little busier than he expected overall. “My experience so far has been great and it’s good to have put myself in the position where I can help people,” said Savasta.

His interest in helping people doesn’t just stop with the Hudson Valley community, either. Currently, he said he and the Senate are working on hurricane relief efforts, hoping to get students involved, too. He said they’re putting up flyers and asking for donations through the Red Cross for disaster victims, while also trying to team up with the nursing department to combine their relief efforts.

Savasta ran for President of the Student Senate last semester and ended up winning against Brendan Caluneo by 69 votes.

He said at the time that he imagined “Student Senate doing whatever it can to encourage more students to be involved in the extracurriculars on the Hudson Valley campus”. Now president, he still maintains his feelings about the importance of extracurricular involvement.

“I think students would be better off if they were getting involved in things rather than just going to classes and then just going home,” he said. Savasta added that getting involved in clubs, sports or other extracurricular activities is completely a student’s choice, but that he wants to strongly encourage it.

In his own spare time, Savasta said he likes to enjoy outdoor activities, like kayaking and hiking, but these days he’s mostly trying to balance his school schedule with his senate responsibilities. Whenever Savasta has spare time that’s not set aside for student senate, he tries to catch up on his homework and other duties as a student at Hudson Valley.

He said although it’s busier than he expected, he likes to stay busy. “The school year’s going by really fast, so I’m trying to make the most of it,” he said.

As we reach the halfway point of the semester, Savasta, like any another second year student, is trying to figure out his next step. He said besides knowing he wants to continue studying business, he doesn’t know where that will take him, although he mentioned UAlbany as a possibility. From there, he’s unsure what the future holds. “With business, there’s a lot of different directions you can go in,” he said. He has a little while longer to figure it out.