Hey y’all! My name is Amber and I’m a junior majoring in Informatics and minoring in Applied Math. You might be wondering, what is Informatics? To me, Informatics a lot like servant leadership in that both center around the question “How can I help?”, in this case, through technology. I’m extraordinarily passionate about Informatics because when done right, technology empowers the masses to do more and dream bigger. Computer technology has the power to make work easier, connect people and even save lives but before it can do any of that, it needs to be user-friendly. Much like servant leadership, Informatics puts the user first, focusing on how designs, functions and interfaces can be more adherent to human needs – pretty cool stuff, right?

Now that I’m done geeking out, here’s a barrage of random facts about myself. I’m a lifetime vegetarian, skiing was my first love, my best writing is produced between the hours of midnight and 3 AM, I absolutely LOVE country music and I don’t care who knows, I chop my hair off and donate it every 2 years, I like spending as much time outside as possible, cheese is my favorite food group, I’m a Pacific Northwest hiking enthusiast, I once sprained my wrist skiing backwards through trees at 2 AM while having a light sabor fight and my favorite color changes every day. My 4th grade mile time was around 24 minutes so naturally I joined my high school cross country team have been a fitness nut ever since. Having been involved with ASB all through high school, I had the life-changing opportunity to attend Mt Adams and Mt Olympus leadership camps where I was introduced to a whole new concept through which I strive to live my life, servant leadership. I went back the following two summers as a junior counselor and learned more than I could have ever predicted.

Coming into UW as a freshman, I was overwhelmed. I got bogged down in school work, spent most of my time stressed about my major and didn’t understand how to engage with all that this campus has to offer. Getting involved with an ASUW elections campaign in my freshman spring quarter really opened my eyes to the opportunities within ASUW. As a result, my sophomore year, I joined ASUW senate, got involved with another campaign and found a love for campus engagement and betterment. Currently, I am a committee chair in senate, the marketing chair for Child Rights and You (CRY) at UW, a writer for the Greek Voice newspaper, the Academic Achievement Chair for my sorority and serve on several ASUW committees. I’m ecstatic about this program because I want to share this passion I’ve found with others! Nobody should go through their collegiate careers without understanding all that’s possible and I strongly believe that this program can give students the skills, support, experience and awareness necessary to get involved in making a meaningful difference.