The spring semester is coming to a close in a few short weeks and with that SAA has been busy preparing for our Senior Commencement Ball, Join the Flock and the saddest realization, that our seniors are graduating! SAA currently has 30 seniors (including Anna Mitchell- our amazing exchange student from England!) that will be graduating in May. In being such a large, special group to our organization, we wanted to give them each the chance to speak upon their UMass SAA experience and where they’re off to next! We have 9 seniors stories that we wanted to share. We cannot thank them all enough for the amazing work they’ve put into SAA the past four years and can’t express how much we’ll miss them!

Shannon Emmett: Shannon Emmett, the current President of SAA, is a Political Science and History double major who joined SAA her sophomore year. She says she joined SAA to get more involved on campus and to work with people who were passionate about UMass and who wanted to create new traditions for the students of UMass. Her favorite SAA memory was Comm Ball 2017 because she loved seeing how all of SAA’s hard work paid off and that she got to be with many of the friends she met in the organization before they graduated. She describes the senior class as dedicated- which not only described the graduating class of 2019, but Shannon herself! Shannon also serves on the Board of Directors for UMass Women into Leadership and she helps coordinate student-alumni and philanthropy programs for UWiL as well! In her free time she loves running and she running a half marathon in May. She’s not quite sure what’s up next for her, but we know no matter what, she’s going to do amazing things! Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Shannon, we’re going to miss you next year!

Elena Olsen: Elena Olsen, the current Graphics Coordinator, is an Art major who joined SAA her sophomore year. She joined SAA because Morgan told her it would be fun and her favorite memory was Comm Ball her sophomore year! She describes the senior class as well-rounded which couldn’t be more true! She has a thesis exhibition coming up in April and she’ll be working after graduation! Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Elena, we’re going to miss you next year!

Chris Craig: Chris Craig, the current Conference and Awards Coordinator, is an Environmental Science major who joined SAA his sophomore year. He joined SAA because Zach brought him to one of the meetings and said his favorite SAA memory was shredding the dance floor with Zach and Alec at Comm Ball 2017. He describes the senior class as dedicated which is a true reflection of Chris as well. After graduation, he will be working and traveling! Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Chris, we’re going to miss you next year!

Rob Michaud: Rob Michaud, the current Membership Coordinator, is an Operations and Information Management major who joined SAA his junior year. He joined SAA to meet new people and to connect to alumni and he says his favorite SAA memory was the 2018 Boston Alumni Networking night. He describes the senior class as driven and Rob is a great example of that drive! He’s volunteered at every I Love UMass Day since his freshman year despite not actually being in SAA until his junior year! After graduation, he will be working at Gorton’s Seafood in Gloucester and is hoping to get his MBA. Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Rob, we’re going to miss you next year!

Rebecca Munro: Rebecca Munro (aka Becca), is the current VP of Traditions, is a Public Health and Sociology double major who joined SAA her freshman year. She joined SAA at first because of the networking opportunities, but she has stayed with us all four years because of the comradery and event planning experiences SAA has given her. Her favorite memory was the Fall Retreat her sophomore year when they went to the corn maze and ate cider donuts- she says it was so fun to do team building activities outside with SAA! She describes the senior class as dedicated, we couldn’t find a better adjective to describe Becca too! Something SAA doesn’t know about her is, she almost quit SAA after her first semester. She says she wasn’t getting as much as she wanted to out of it, until an E-Board member asked her to get more involved, in which she helped plan Multi-color Mile! She says to get involved in SAA, you won’t regret it! After graduation, Becca is going to get her Masters degree in Elementary education so she can be an elementary school teacher. Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Becca, we’re going to miss you next year!

Jamie Downer: Jamie Downer, the current VP of Communications, is a biology major who joined SAA her junior year. She joined SAA because she wanted to have a sense of belonging and SAA was that place! Her favorite SAA memory was the CASE ASAP conference this winter because she loved getting to know more of the members in SAA and learning about what our organization does! She describes the senior class as dedicated, which can also describe Jamie herself! She wants SAA to know that each and every member in SAA is special to her and that she’s going to miss SAA so much! After graduation, she is going to get her Master’s in education and will be starting her career as a high school science teacher! Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Jamie, we’re going to miss you next year!

Kasey McKenzie: Kasey McKenzie is an Operations and Information Management major who joined SAA her sophomore year. She says she joined because she saw that Jess was having so much fun in SAA and meeting so many people, and she wanted to join in! Her favorite memory from SAA was driving the golf carts in the 2017 Homecoming Parade. She describes the senior class as inspiring- just like herself! She has a younger sister at UMass and Kasey says she’s going to force her sister to join SAA, we can’t wait to meet her! After graduation, Kasey will be working for one of the big four accounting firms in Boston- congratulations, Kasey! Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Kasey, we’re going to miss you next year!

Jessica Morrison: Jess Morrison, the current VP of Philanthropy, is a Management major who joined SAA her sophomore year. She says she joined SAA to become more involved in the UMass community. Her favorite memories from SAA were the Escape Room at the Hadley Mall and planning I Love UMass Day over the last three years. She describes the senior class as dedicated and Jess is a prime example of dedication! After graduation, she is going to be working for TJX! Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Jess, we’re going to miss you next year!

Zach Richardson: Zach Richardson, the current VP of Membership, is a Math major who joined SAA his freshman year. He says he joined SAA because his sister invited him to one of the meetings and the rest is history! His favorite memory of SAA has been decorating for Comm Ball and all of the SAA Swamp Pot Lucks where he says is the best place to meet members and make friends! He describes the senior class as dedicated- Zach is a great example of this! After graduation, he’s moving to Boston to work and he’s hoping to get his Master’s degree soon too! Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Zach, we’re going to miss you next year!

Brianna St. Don: Brianna St. Don, former Administrative Coordinator and SAA superstar is an Accounting major who joined SAA her freshman year. She says she joined SAA because it had so many ways to get involved and she wanted to be a part of an organization that puts on events that have an impact of the university. Her favorite memory from SAA was decorating for hours in Mullins with her friends and being able to see it all come together in the end. She describes the senior class as committed- a quality she expressed throughout her four years here at UMass. She is currently working on her Master’s degree in accounting and will be starting work at BlumShaprio in January working as a full time audit staff. Thank you for everything you’ve done for SAA, Brianna, we miss you!

This senior class is certainly special and has had such a huge impact on SAA in more ways they could imagine. We’re so lucky to have such an amazing group of seniors who have dedicated so much time and energy into this organization and who have helped to shape it into what it is today. Commencement Ball will be Friday, May 3rd at 9pm and Commencement will be Friday, May 10th at 4:30pm at McGuirk Stadium. Best of luck to all our graduating seniors, U were, U are, UMass!