Hello fellow students! My name is Charlotte Couch and I am pleased to serve as your Senate President Pro Tempore. I grew up in Centerville, Ohio (Go Buckeyes!) for most of my life. My family and I moved to Sarasota county when I was 14 , and I attended Venice High school. I have two little sisters that are in middle school & high school, and my older half-brother that still lives in Ohio. VHS was an amazing high school and the rotary futures program helped me apply for over 50 scholarships for college! I chose to move to Gainesville because so many of my older friends said Santa Fe College was a great school and had recently been named #1 in the nation. All through my life, photography was a huge passion and I decided it made sense to go to college for a combination of photo and video production. After attending Santa Fe for 1 semester, I found a club on campus, Graphic Design Student Association, that looked super intriguing with students that had similar interests. A fter being in the club, I was introduced to the Digital Media Technology program on campus; I will be graduating with my Associate of Science in Digital Media Technology this spring!I was elected senator of GDSA in January of 2017 and went to my first senate meeting. I was super confused the whole time, nervous around the other outspoken senators, but after a few months , I became more and more interested in student government. In September 2017, I ran for Senate Sergeant at Arms and won . T hen I went on the Florida College System Student Government Associations Conference in November of 2017, where we lobbied for issues in colleges around FL. My increasing interest in SG really showed , yet this was something I never saw myself in, especially considering my major . However, serving as a leader to students and changing their campus for the better, was so rewarding. In Spring of 2018, I ran for Senate Pro Tempore and won by a great majority. Since then, I have learned so much from the clubs I get to work with and have a better understanding of how Santa Fe works. My goal s is to provide clubs on campus with a voice when it comes to issues we face in senate and to make sure that ALL departments are represented in senate. This is so crucial. Through my efforts, I was awarded 2018-19 Student Government Outstanding At-Large Senator; and, during my time as a senator, I have always spoken my mind, even when it was not the popular opinion. I f I could offer anyone advice, if you’re unsure about joining SG , or even becoming a senator, do it - because even being a voice on campus will change lives. It has been the most gratifying experience.