Hey, y'all! My name is Emma Gabbert (she/her/hers), and I am the 2023-2024 Vice Chair of Students United. It is truly an honor to have been elected to this role. I can't wait to work with fellow officers, staff, and the 55,000 students our organization represents. I graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato, in Spring 2022 with a degree in Mass Media and a double minor in Political Science and Marketing. I recently started my Master's in Advocacy and Political Leadership (MAPL) at Metro State University.
During my junior year of college, I was elected Senator of the College of Arts and Humanities and served as the Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator the same year. While in Student Government, Andrew Trenne, the student body president at the time, told me about this organization called Students United that had committees and delegates that students could be appointed to. I signed up for both and was introduced to the world of Students United.
The following year, I was awarded the Timothy J. Penny Fellowship from Students United, which provides a stipend to encourage students to complete an internship for a politician at the Minnesota State Capitol. In my final semester of college, I was a legislative intern for Senator Nick Frentz, who represents Mankato and the surrounding areas. When the legislative session ended, Senator Frentz hired me to be the Communications Director for his campaign, which ended in a landslide victory.
I was involved in a lot of clubs and organizations when I was an undergrad, a dozen to be exact. But one of the most rewarding was being Treasurer of the Neurodiversity Community. Since my ADHD diagnosis at age five, I have struggled with fitting into the box that schools use for testing and daily assignments. Without the persistence of my mother insisting that I receive the help I need, I would not be where I am today.
Throughout my time at Minnesota State Mankato, the Accessibility Resources Department would ask me to speak to future elementary education students about how they can help students struggling with learning disabilities. I learned that most students do not have a story like mine. They either found out that they had a learning disability as an adult, or they knew they needed extra help but didn't know that help was available to them. I believe every student should be able to live to their true potential and that accommodations can make a real difference in a student's success, especially in higher education.
For my future career, I would like to work in an Accessibility Resources Department for a university, ideally one of the seven Minnesota State Universities I represent through Student United. I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to work in higher education advocacy at such a young age. I cannot wait to begin my career in a field I was called to serve in.