Issue Date: 11/16/09
New student leader optimistic about end to troubled times for gov't
By Yvonne Lanot
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Hong serves while Palomar officials investigate claims the ASG was mismanaged by the Office of Student Affairs.
Ann Hong is a 20-year-old international student from Korea who, four and a half years ago, arrived alone in America. She said that she believes she is very lucky to have the opportunity to be living in America, especially given her new position as the ASG President.
Hong graduated from Orange Glen High School in Escondido and is currently in her second year at Palomar.
As president, Hong said that she aims to keep the ASG on schedule to accomplish set goals.
"I am really happy with the things happening in ASG right now," Hong said. "I honestly think that there are a lot of people who support me. Everyone is really helpful; they always give me positive comments on things. They definitely help me out."
When she ran for ASG Vice President last May, Hong said that she had no expectations of being president.
"Honestly, when I ran for vice president I really wanted to be the right-hand for the president and work together … that's why (becoming president) came to me as a surprise," Hong said.
"In the beginning, I was worried and shocked. I didn't know what to do. But it worked out better than I thought," she added.
The new vice president, John Aragon, said he believes that Hong is a hard worker.
"Her personality works out really well and people really like her," Aragon said.
Being the new president comes with a lot of responsibility.
Hong attends the Palomar District Governing Board meetings and the Strategic Planning Council, is in charge of the agenda, calls and chairs ASG meetings, makes sure senators are doing the jobs and attends various ASG committees.
"It can be stressful to manage my time with school, schoolwork and ASG. But I think I am getting a lot of skills to manage time well, leadership skills and how to say no to people," Hong said. "It can be hard, but I have to do it."
"She's definitely committed to Palomar and not afraid to take on a lot of work," Aragon said.
"She's really organized considering she has to go to at least 10 hours worth of meetings a week. She does school at night to go to meetings during the day, as well as work for a tutoring program called Gear Up," he added.
After completing her education at Palomar and fulfilling her duty as ASG President, Hong wants to transfer to UCLA and major in accounting.
"I consider myself extremely lucky," Hong said.
"Right now, the experiences I go through, even though they might be stressful and hard, or I don't want to do it … I'm gaining so much that I would never exchange this experience for anything else," she added.
"I'm actually glad [to be president]. It's really fun to be with people who like to be involved with school and who like to put in time to do things for school."
She added that she thinks the ASG will be able to look past the mismanagement allegations and focus on getting things done.
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