Day In the Life of Peter McChesney

He may not be a True Aggie, but ASUSU President Peter McChesney considers himself an Aggie through and through.

Although McChesney grew up just outside of Sydney, Australia, he said he has more family living in the U.S. than he does in Australia. McChesney said he had been to the U.S. to visit but didn’t come to stay until 2004.

“With political intentions, it made sense to come here,” McChesney said. “Washington, D.C., is the Mecca of the political world.”

McChesney said he feels the biggest differences between Utah and Australia are the attitudes of the people and, of course, the accent.

“Australia is a different culture and experience,” McChesney said. “The accent is the most superficial of all the differences, but Australians have a different attitude. They are more laid-back about certain things.”

McChesney said he is at USU working on his master’s degree. His first he received from a university in Australia.

Every day McChesney gets up and delivers the newspaper around campus, he said.

“I dress really warm and then I drive to the TSC with the New York Times and the Salt Lake Trib, usually sometime between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m.,” McChesney said. “I should probably get to bed early.”

When McChesney gets to campus, he goes to class and then attends to business as ASUSU president. He checks his e-mail, respond to calls, plans lobbying, visits with the officers and sometimes tries and contacts state senators, he said.

McChesney said he has to wear a suit so much to school that he has developed sort of a rule for himself about it.

“If I have two or more meetings that I have to be in a suit for, I just stay in the suit all day,” McChesney said. “That is easier than going back and changing. I wear a suit so often that I love those days when I get to wear jeans and a sweatshirt.”

McChesney said sometimes the job can get hard, but he thinks that, overall, being president has enhanced his college experience. Balancing everything is hard, he said, and can be a bit of a time commitment, but he said this experience is the best thing for anybody because it really enriches the college experience.

“The year I will remember the most from college is this year as president.,” he said. “It has been an opportunity to make a positive change.”

McChesney said trying to fit school and being the president into one day is hard, but sometimes he does get an opportunity to kick back with his friends.

“I go county dancing,” McChesney said. “My friends roped me into it, and now I like it.”

McChesney said being ASUSU president has given him some unique opportunities, including traveling out of the country.

“I went to Israel for a program called Project Interchange,” McChesney said. “It was a fantastic experience, a first-hand understanding.”

McChesney said although he has been able to do many amazing things as president, not all of them have been covered by the university.

“These trips are not a given, nor are they all paid for by the university,” McChesney said. “For example, my trip to Israel was not paid for by the university, and was after extensive selection in which a lot of student body presidents were not chosen.”

McChesney said some of his other trips have included Washington, D.C., and Illinois. He said something more unique about him then where he has been is the fact that he has authored two manuscripts.

“I have authored two manuscripts, one of which is 1,300 pages and was reviewed by Deseret Book,” McChesney said. “It compares the doctrines of the LDS Church with the rest of the Christian world in the light of the Holy Bible and was produced after numerous interviews with Christian ministers of various faiths. The other manuscript is around 300 pages and explores how happiness is our fundamental search in life, and looks at various principles behind happiness and success in life.”

When McChesney finishes his master’s in political science he is currently working on, he plans on going into politics.

As for not being a True Aggie, McChesney said he is just “saving it for the right person.”

-debrajoy.h@aggiemail.usu.edu