Last fall Shirin Jafari was enrolled in 19 units, was able to maintain a job, complete a fellowship and co-author a published paper all while maintaining her 4.0 GPA.

This semester she is taking on the task of being the business representative on the board of directors for Associated Students, Inc.

“I saw this as an opportunity in the last year of my studies at SFSU to be able to give back… and help my fellow students to the best of my abilities and be a small part of making SFSU an even better place,” she said.

Jafari, a senior international relations major with a minor in economics, is hoping to create a better sense of community on campus for her fellow Iranian students.

“I am an Iranian, and when I entered SFSU, I felt a lack of community [among] Iranian students at State. To the extent that even to this date, I only personally know a few Iranians here, but I know that there are many more,” said Jafari, who immigrated from Iran three years ago where she studied music performance at the University of Tehran.

One of her first goals as the business representative is to create an assembly within the College of Business.

“This assembly would…[consist] of 20 [to] 30 students that are passionate about their college and their organizations, and would help me identify the problems that exist in the [College of Business] and general student concerns,” she said.

Jafari was also recently appointed vice president of the International Relations Student Association.

“I actually thrive under pressure,” said Jafari.  

The board also approved first-year graduate student Elizabeth Gandara to be the board’s graduate representative.

Gandara, a graduate student in the Masters of Public Health in Community Health Education Program, hopes to make SF State’s commuter heavy campus more tight-knit.

“I know how important a campus community is to students, especially for students who don’t live on campus or people who come from far away,” she said.

As a new student on campus, Gandara aspires to construct an environment in which graduate students are able to socialize with one another.

“I…would love to see a graduate resource space where we can plan outings, collaborate [and] hold events to promote grad school to undergraduate students, and so much more,” said Gandara who comes from a small town in the Salinas Valley.

Gandara, as an undergrad, was the co-chair of the student union at Cal State Monterey Bay.

“It was not a hard decision in just how much she’s done both at her other college and here,” said Jackie Foley, president of Associated Students, Inc.

“I’m totally confident that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to,” said Gandara.

The board will hold their next meeting on Oct. 11.