Sitting down with student leaders about the ins & outs of student organizations. This edition we interviewed Asheley Poole, a Post-Baccalaureate student majoring in biochemistry from Students About Service.

Q: This is a new organization on campus. What kind of role did you play in starting this club?

Poole: We started officially last semester, spring 2014. I wrote the constitution and had it ratified by our members. I think there was 10 or 11 founding members that are still a part of the group today.

Q: Was it hard to start a new organization?

Poole: It’s been difficult. We didn’t really have a precedent exactly for the niche that we fill. We had some examples from other schools across the southeast, and we try to model what we do based on what they have done but really had very little guidance. We were self taught. We had to investigate the Williams Center and the requirements for our student organization, how to write a constitution, how to reserve rooms. I mean, the whole thing we have done from the ground up.

Q: So what role does Students About Service fill on campus and why do you think GSU needed a club like this?

Poole: We are a service organization. We provide service for the community and the campus. Our mission statement is a little specific. We are a service organization that facilitates recovery from drugs and alcohol on campus, but we also do general community service projects. We just like to help out where help is needed.
There is a large recovery community in Statesboro, and we didn’t see that there was an organization that would kind of foster to people that are trying to be in long term recovery and be in school at the same time, so that is part of what we do. We also just get together and do a lot of service projects. If there is stuff to be done, we try to find out about it and get involved.”