University of Mary Washington senior Amira Said’s leadership journey began with the start of her college career. Now, Said, who was born in Egypt and went to high school in Northern Virginia, serves as SGA president and heads up a major UMW tradition – ASPIRE Week, a six-day celebration of Mary Washington’s most quintessential values.
If you’d asked University of Mary Washington senior Amira Said to describe herself when she first came to campus, she might have used the word “shy.” Now Student Government Association (SGA) president and Class Council treasurer, she’s anything but, especially when it comes to planning one of UMW’s signature events – ASPIRE Week.
An acronym for Mary Washington values – accountability, scholarship, personal and institutional integrity, inclusive excellence, respect and civility, and engagement – ASPIRE is a campuswide mantra. It’s celebrated each year with a six-day event launched by one of Said’s SGA president predecessors Jaylyn Long ’24, who passed the torch to Said when she graduated.
“It’s a fantastic tradition,” Said said, “and a reminder of all the things we stand for and care about here at UMW.”
Her leadership journey began early in her college career, when she landed a key role on UMW’s Orientation team. As her confidence climbed, she considered various majors but environmental science best fit her ambitions and fueled her efforts to increase conservation efforts – including composting – on campus. And for every lesson she learned in the classroom, she discovered something about herself, too, and her power to bring others along on a mission. Read more about UMW’s Student Government Association President.
Leave a Reply