Tell us about yourself. Where are you from? What year are you in school and what is your major? 

My name is Anna Staresinic. I am doing information science and data science as a double major, and then I have certificates in computer science and sustainability, and I’m from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

What is WASB?

WASB stands for the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board. We are an extension of the Alumni Association and we’re also a Registered Student Organization.  Our goal is to get people connected with the university and excited about being at this school. We have programming that we do each semester, a bunch of different events to engage students with alumni, engage students in professional development events, in community engagement events and that sort of thing. For example, we recently hosted an event where students could learn how to become financially independent and hear from a professional at UW Credit Union about how to manage their finances on their own. We also just did an event where students could attend a free dinner with an alumni or a professor to learn about whatever field they study in, or gain some sort of life advice. So we do a wide range of many different things, and we’re also just a really close-knit and fun community on campus that is a lot of fun to be a part of and the program is a lot of fun to put together.

How did you get involved with WASB?

I applied at the beginning of my freshman year. So I had seen WASB on social media and stuff like that before even coming to this school. And I thought that just everyone in it looked super cool and it looked like something I wanted to be part of. So I applied my first semester and didn’t get in and then I applied again my second semester and got in then, and I’ve been a part of it ever since.

What inspired you to take on the role as president?

The people that I’ve met through the organization have just really changed my life for the better. It’s a really eclectic and passionate group of people, and I’ve met some of my closest friends at this school through WASB. So many of the people that I live with now are in WASB. It’s just a really incredible community, and I think that really drives my excitement and my passion for everything that I’m a part of — when the people that you’re around are constantly challenging you, but also supporting you in everything that you do. So getting to work with all these incredible people and get people excited about being at this school and being involved in what this university does I think really motivated me to want to be president and help lead that vision for the organization and the events that we put on to get students excited about being here. 

What is your favorite thing about WASB?

I  love all of our events where we get to engage with people and make people’s day. I feel like I’ve seen some of the stuff that we do really puts smiles on people’s faces, or gets people engaged in really interesting conversations and creates new connections. I love getting to be a part of that and getting to see the way that I’ve made my own impact on our events that we have and just on the organization. That has been really fulfilling. I’ve gotten to do a lot of different things that I never really thought I’d have an opportunity to do while in college, or that I never really imagined myself doing. And also, like I’ve been saying, the people are just so incredible and so wonderful, and I love getting to go to meetings where I’m hanging out with a bunch of my friends and being on leadership with a bunch of my friends. So that I feel has made it really special for me as well.

What is the best memory you have from WASB?

My favorite memory has to be from our 2023 All-Campus Party, a week-long celebration where we hosted several fun and free events for students during my second semester on WASB. One of our events for that every year is Breakfast with Bucky where we get to hand out free breakfast to students all morning. We started preparing for this event at 6 AM, and to get ourselves hyped up for the day, we went to watch the sunrise on the dock of Memorial Union at 5 AM. I am not a morning person at all, but to get up and hang out with some of my favorite people and get ready for the crazy day we were about to have was well worth it. The president of WASB at the time jumped in the lake with one of our other members, and afterwards we all went to Gordon’s together to have breakfast. It was super silly and wholesome, and to me I think it perfectly showcases the beautiful friendship and camaraderie members of WASB have with each other.

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned in your time with WASB?

I’ve learned that I am capable of so much more than I thought I was. Whether that be through planning a new event, taking on a leadership role, or just receiving endless support to take on personal endeavors from my fellow WASBs, I feel so much more motivated and passionate about trying new things and tackling the goals I have in my life. WASB has set me up with the skills I feel I need to take on nearly any challenge, and the support system I have gained through the organization will stay with me for the rest of my life.

What are some ways students can get involved with WASB? 

So we have our Instagram, where you can see posts about all of our events and updates about us, as they’re happening throughout the semester. We also have a really fantastic website, which is gowasb.org and through that too, we also have ways you can get on our email list and receive emails about our events as they’re happening as well.

Are there any specific events coming up that you’re excited for? 

Something that I’m looking forward to in the spring is our magnum opus of our programming which is our All-Campus Party, which will be the second to last week of April where we have a bunch of events going on all week that are fun, free things for students to do. We hand out free breakfast. We have an event that’s like a big scavenger hunt. We throw a block party at the end of the week that has a bunch of bands and free food and games and there’s all these cool things that you can do. I’m definitely looking forward to that in the spring. And something else that we’re doing is looking to introduce some new programming, both during that event and just one of our general standalone events during the semester, and we’re planning that for next semester. I’m really excited to kind of see that getting rolled out and all that coming to fruition.

What are some post-grad goals you have?

I am currently on the job hunt. I have been working in software engineering with robotics my past two summers in my internships, and really enjoyed that a lot. I’m still waiting to hear back from some places, but hoping to embark on a full time role and hopefully move back out to the East Coast is my dream. But of course I would never hate to dabble in still living in the Midwest for a little bit if something pops up for me in Chicago or Minneapolis.

Anything else you would like to share?

We’re always looking to collaborate with other student leaders and engage with what other student organizations are doing on this campus. So if anybody is interested in trying to partner with us for an event, or thinks that we could come up with something really interesting to make this school a better place for the student body, I would encourage those student leaders to reach out to me or us on our Instagram, or through our website. I also wanted to plug that we have applications for new members every semester. So if people want to ever apply, they should check our Instagram and our website regularly for more information on how to do that.