Joanna Orban
Copy Editor
Before Aayush Jha made the decision to come to Idaho State University, he applied to several universities on the East Coast. Having always been interested in the medical field, Jha was intrigued about being able to do his own research on campus at ISU. He ultimately chose ISU because of those research opportunities the university offered.
Majoring in medical science, Jha arrived at ISU from Nepal in the fall of 2016. He wasn’t really involved during the first year he spent at ISU. One reason for this was the language barrier.
According to Jha when people said “what’s up?”, he used to literally look up. The language and cultural barrier hindered his involvement during his first year. During the following summer, Jha realized that his first year had not been the college experience he thought he would have. As someone who had been very involved in high school by being school prefect, among other positions, it was a different experience for Jha not to be involved. He wanted to change that.
“The second year was my first step,” said Jha. He became involved with the International Student Association.
One of Jha’s best experiences that he had at ISU was when he helped plan the 2018 International Night with the International Student Association. More than 1,000 people from the campus community such as faculty, students and staff as well as members of the community came to celebrate diversity and different cultures.
“After that, there was no looking back. I just got involved with ASISU, the ISU ambassadors and different pre-health clubs,” said Jha. “I don’t go to my apartment and sleep now at midday.”
Prior to running for ASISU president Jha was the senator for the College of Health Professionals. After seeing what ASISU can do for students, Jha decided to run for president. “We’re going to do something great this year,” Jha said of his ASISU team. One of the main things and his fellow members of ASISU wanted to focus on this year was outreach.
“Our students really do not know what ASISU does for them. Our main goal was to go out and let them know who we are and what we do.”
Unfortunately, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made outreach nearly impossible. Now, Jha and the rest of his team have turned their attention to working on ASISU as an organization. This includes making sure that the senators and other members of ASISU are aware of their roles and responsibilities.
In addition to working on the organization, ASISU is also working on a promotional video to help show what they do and what resources they offer.
“We are trying to push the parking issue this year. Students always complain about parking but we haven’t really voiced that to administrators yet.”
In addition to working with ASISU, Jha has been working on his graduate school applications. He plans to continue his education by pursuing a master’s degree in public health. Jha made this decision over the summer while he observed how the world reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Being from a third world country, this really struck me and I wanted to do something in that field.”
Now that he’s seen the western side of the U.S., Jha is applying to schools on the East Coast, both to explore a different part of the country and be closer to his family and friends. In the meantime, Jha is working with ASISU and watching out for his fellow students.
“We’re in a hard situation amid a pandemic, I would just say stay positive,” said Jha. The ASISU president would also like to remind students to be safe, wear their face coverings and be aware of updates on the COVID-19 virus. He advises students to be patient and focus on their education.
“We just roar from Zoom now.”
