CREDIT: MELISSA NOVACASKA
Jahmoyia Smith takes down the competition to become the Fanshawe Student Union's next president for the 2018/2019 year. Smith's term will officially begin on May 1.

After a close race and weeks of campaigning, the election results are in and Jahmoyia Smith will be the next president of the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) for the 2018/2019 term. Smith is currently the Advocacy and Communications Coordinator for the FSU and in her final year of the bachelor of early childhood leadership program.

Smith shared how it feels to be the next FSU president and her experience campaigning overall, “It was a great experience. I feel that a lot of people believed in me and a lot of people definitely pushed me to do this and encouraged me constantly, daily, even when I had doubts […] I have a huge support system here at Fanshawe and at home too,” Smith said. Smith also stated that there have been a variety of individuals who have wanted to help her with her campaign over the past few weeks and inquired how to vote her.

Once her term starts, Smith said her first plan of action is to ensure the peer-to-peer centre that is currently in the works comes to Fanshawe. Advocating for more mental health initiatives was one of Smith's main platform points.

Smith said that campaigning was stressful, but at the same time it was important to keep campaigning fun. Part of Smith's campaigning strategy was wearing a sandwich board that outlined her platform points and talking to students about the changes they would like to see happen at the College. She said the sandwich board was a hit with the older folks at Fanshawe and her favourite part of campaigning was talking to students on campus.

FSU presidential candidate Aaron Peterzon shared some final words regarding the campaign. “I know Jahmoyia very well and we are great friends and I have nothing but respect for her. Of course, her and I tried as hard as we could to represent as many students as we could and advocate on behalf of the students as much as possible. I'm disappointed I didn't win in the election, but I'm so happy for Jahmoyia and I know she will do such an amazing job. What is most important to me, is that the students made an informative decision when casting their vote. I wish the best for Jahmoyia and I know she is going to do an amazing job.”

To see the full election results, including the new student who earned a spot on the Board of Governors and list of new FSU Directors for the 2018/2019 year, visit fsu.ca/elections.