On campus from morning to night
Erik Mikkelsen said he wanted to be the student body president two years before he was elected. Eventually, he accomplished his goal. As his term in office nears its end, Mikkelsen reflected on the past year at USU. He was always determined and wanted to help out the students however he could, he said. He gave much of the credit for his accomplishments to his officers, advisers, friends and family.
“I believe that we’ve had the best ASUSU council in history,” he said. “I think the advisers this year were the best, and we were an unbelievable team. I just hope that next year’s council will be even better.”
At the beginning of the school year, the student council had a goal to get the students involved as much as possible, Mikkelsen said.
“This was harder than we thought,” said Kirsten Frank, who was the executive vice president of ASUSU. Frank is studying law and constitutional studies. She started supporting Mikkelsen during the campaign when she got to know him. She worked closely with Mikkelsen throughout the year, and Mikkelsen gave her a lot of credit and said he couldn’t have done it without her.
“He’s very good at talking to students and figuring out their niche, especially freshmen and transfer students,” Frank said. “There are only so many organizations, and a capacity to the amount of leadership positions available, and he was very good at placing students in a position that they would excel in. He’s also very humble. He admits when he makes mistakes and learns from them. It’s been humbling for me to watch him.”
“One of the things I love to do is to talk with students about how to make the most of their experience here,” Mikkelsen said. “People will come to me with any problems or concerns they have. I also love meeting new people and talking to them about what their strength is so that I can help them become more involved.”
Mikkelsen is a junior, majoring in business and communication studies. He is from Bunkerville, Nev., a small town outside of Mesquite. After attending USU for a year, he served an LDS mission to Atlanta, Ga. He got back around two years ago, and has been attending USU.
Being the student body president has many advantages. He said one of the good things about being president was traveling to conferences and other things. On one of these occasions, he got to travel to Atlanta and revisit the place where he served his mission.
Mikkelsen said he supports the new recreation project that was first proposed by former president, Tyler Tolson. The Aggie Recreation Center is something that Mikkelsen worked on after Tolson left office.
“I believe that it will benefit the students, and I hope everyone votes yes on it,” he said.
The new recreation center would include a field of turf, for which Mikkelsen got to travel to various places for free to see the turf at other locations.
Another bonus of being president, Mikkelsen said, was that he got a pass to park anywhere he wanted. He said he didn’t use this very often, because he lives right next to campus in the Sigma Phi Epsilon house. He said that living so close to campus was very convenient.
His parents said they are proud of him. They are supportive, and come up to Logan as often as they can to help him out. They came up during his campaign week to assist him in that endeavor. The drive from Bunkerville is a long one, but his parents know how important being the president was for him.
Another asset he had was being a Sigma Phi Epsilon. His fraternity brothers helped him campaign and support him a lot. He lived close to campus, had lots of friends and was encouraged to have good grades by being in the fraternity. His brother, Daniel Mikkelsen, is also a Sigma Phi Epsilon currently serving an LDS mission in Mexico. He was also supportive of Erik Mikkelsen during his campaign, Erik Mikkelsen said.
“My fraternity brothers really helped me to get elected,” he said. “Being Greek helped me accomplish so much more. I really appreciate their help. I don’t think I could have been elected without them.”
Erik Mikkelsen said he was an avid dater, finding time between his presidential duties and homework to go on many dates. He does not date anyone exclusively, because he hasn’t found her yet. He just dates lots of different girls.
“I am a dating machine,” he said. “I have a date for tonight that I got by speed-dating about 20 minutes ago.”
He was speed-dating for an activity that was held on campus. Mikkelsen has attended many events on campus and was asked to participate in many activities. He danced the ChaCha with dancer Sammie Krohn, in the Dancing with the USU Stars held Feb. 16.
“Since being elected, people assume I am an expert on everything. I have been asked to be a judge for fashion shows, dances and musical shows,” he said. “I got to do a lot of things, many for which I had no previous experience.”
He also attended some football and basketball games. He sat in the front row of the basketball game once, waiting outside for hours to get the coveted spot. Being the president, he said he knows he could have had the front row without waiting, but he wouldn’t do that to the students who did wait.
As president, he was in charge of many things and attended many meetings on top of his regular schoolwork — he was taking 17 credits. On an average day, he estimated he was on campus from about 8-9 a.m. until about 10 p.m. Mikkelsen had three main duties.
He’s acted as the voice of the students to Administration and has talked to Administration about what students want to see happen and how to get it done. He also said he oversees 26 communities and clubs.
As the leader of ASUSU, Mikkelsen said he’s been in charge of 22 officers and meets with them every other week to talk about what they’re working on and what questions they have.
Mikkelsen also said he’s given students a voice in the state Legislature. He’s gone to meetings with presidents of other schools in Utah and has talked to the Legislature on behalf of USU students.
“I think one of the best things Erik has been able to do is balance the responsibilities as president and to still be a huge support to the student body officers,” Frank said. “He would talk with us about any struggles we were having, and he was very good at highlighting things we did well. He’s very good at talking things through with us.”
Mikkelsen said he wants to be a student regent next year, and in two years, he plans to graduate with a double major. After graduating, he wants to go to Harvard Business School.
– victoria.hepworth@aggiemail.usu.edu