Aseem Jha
November 11, 2014
By Emma Alexander, Honors Communications Intern
As many of you may have recently noticed, several Purdue students were running for a seat on the West Lafayette City Council. Chalking, posters, and buttons galore graced campus sidewalks and student backpacks leading up to Election Day. When the results were announced, I was thrilled to see that a peer and fellow student in the Honors College, Aseem Jha, had won the election. Aseem, a sophomore in Electrical Engineering from Lisle, Illinois, will now have the opportunity to represent the student population in significant council discussions and decisions. However, Aseem is much more than his newly earned council seat, and I reached out to him to find out more of his thoughts and aspirations.
Looking to the future, Aseem has many great plans and lofty goals. I think it best to share these with you in his own words.
I'd like to travel the world, study patent law, settle down with a family, go into state and national politics, help move this country in the right direction, retire, become a professor of South Asian History (and Sanskrit) at a university of some renown, retire again, move to the Himalayas, meditate, achieve enlightenment, and spread my wisdom (or lack thereof) with the masses. I'd say "be happy," but I don't think happiness is a goal. Rather it's a choice. One should always try to remain happy throughout the journey of life.
It's quite the list, but Aseem has already made great strides in achieving several of these goals, including political influence. So of course, we also talked about the election. This is what he had to share,
This campaign arose out of my involvement with the Purdue College Republicans, who notified me in February that there was a city council seat that wasn't being contested by a Republican. Without having to worry about a primary challenge, I jumped into the race and filed my papers to run less than an hour before the deadline. This race has been an amazing experience; I was able to meet well over 1000 individuals while campaigning and had substantive discussions with folks from all corners of the political spectrum. I realized that in the end, it was all about getting people into the polls on election day so I focused on that goal and strove toward getting as many solid voters to actually vote on election day.
Clearly, Aseem was successful in these goals. However, in his time at Purdue thus far he has also been very involved in Shreve Club as well as in Boiler Gold Rush, where he was an international team leader. Aseem says he is very passionate about the program and has already applied to continue his involvement as a program supervisor.
Aseem also shared many of the aspects and opportunities of the Honors College which he has benefitted from thus far, including the community, atmosphere, and unique and interesting courses offered. But his college career and time in the Honors College is far from over. And with regard to that he exclaimed, "I eagerly look forward to the opportunities yet to come!" From everyone in the Honors College, we would like to congratulate you, Aseem, on your outstanding accomplishments and the recent election. We know you will be a superb representative of the Honors College and entire West Lafayette community.
