Students
Experiential Education
Students
A Message From the Student Government Association (SGA) President
When Jacob Tonseth ’22 made the move from his home state of Arizona to JWU’s Providence Campus as a freshman, he knew no one. Flash-forward two years and today, in his own words, he says “JWU was the best thing I could have ever done for myself.”
Now in his junior year, he’s proudly the president of the Providence Campus’ Student Government Association (SGA) — a role that is not a far stretch for what this Political Science major hopes to do after graduation.
Major Experience
“I chose to attend the JWU Providence because of the location,” he explained. “Being in New England offers a lot of opportunity that I wouldn’t necessarily get anywhere else since it’s near the epicenter of politics and government in this country.”
In fact, Jacob attributes what he specifically wants to do once graduating to a moment he had in one of his classes in the spring of his freshman year. “We had a gentleman who works for the Department of State and Diplomacy Services come in and speak to us as a guest lecturer. He talked about working as a diplomat and what that entails, and after listening to the whole lecture and asking questions, it just kind of clicked. I said to myself ‘That’s what I want to do.’”
A few years later, and Jacob is currently in the application process for joining the Department of State and the Foreign Diplomacy Service.
The Write Stuff
But Jacob’s experience at JWU hasn’t been just all about his political aspirations. He’s also gotten the chance to explore another passion of his: journalism. Serving as the associate editor for the university’s student-run newspaper, The Campus Herald, he says it has “given me some really valuable experiences.”
Of those, Jacob notes a trip to New York City he took with his fellow associate editor to cover a retail conference that another JWU club was attending. He explained, “We got to do what we love, being journalists, and we got to explore and be in New York City for five days.”
To hear more from Jacob and his time at JWU, watch the video above. If you want to hear from other students or learn more about the university from home, explore these links:
