“My time as ANUSA President cured me of politics”: Where are Past ANUSA Presidents now

Written by Maya Auld

Observer reached out to past ANUSA Presidents dating back from 1990 to 2016 in an attempt to gain insight into their experience during their term as well as what their life looks like now. 

Observer received 5 responses from the years 1994, 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2015/16.

If you are thinking of a career in student politics, politics beyond University or are just interested in ANUSA history, read on to see what our very own past ANUSA presidents have to say.

ANUSA PRESIDENT 1994, Caitlin Wynham 

Wyndham studied Human Ecology, History and Women’s Studies in her undergraduate years and went on to do a masters in International Development, a Masters in Sociology and a PHD in Public Policy. 

What aspects of ANUSA prepared you for the workplace?

During Wyndham’s term as the 1994 President of ANUSA, she was required to stay enrolled in at least one subject, but was not paid for her position as President. So, Wyndham relied on Aus-Study whilst also working full time and juggling the commitments of her leadership role. 

A primary skill working at ANUSA taught her was time management and the discipline of staying on top of work. She also learnt the functioning of bureaucracy, and what big organisations can and can’t do, which was relevant to both her studies and interests.

After working for ANUSA, as well as the public service for a year following her undergraduate degree, Wyndham realised politics was not a career she wanted to pursue. 

“My time as ANUSA President cured me of politics”. 

As opposed to big organisations which she felt were very administrative, Wyndham felt she could make a bigger impact and tangible change in smaller organisations which has ultimately led her to where she is today.

Today, Wyndham lives in Vietnam and works as a leading researcher for Australian NGO Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, which focuses upon awareness of child trafficking in Vietnam.

Wyndham believes her studies aided her career which focuses on issues of equality and social justice, which are her core passions.

ANUSA PRESIDENT 2001, Maciej Wasilewicz 

The main benefit for Wasilewicz was the personal development aspect of working in the ANUSA team. First working as a Gen Rep, then Education Officer and finally President, Wasilewicz reaped many benefits, particularly growing confidence and the ability to work with many different kinds of teams and organisations to achieve goals. 

Wasilewicz was paid approximately $1000 AUD for the Education officer role and $10,000 for the Student President role. Wasilewicz mentioned at the time, the sums were well below an equivalent full time wage and primarily went towards rent. 

Wasilewicz outlined a high point was running a successful campaign to increase library hours so that students were able to do their academic study outside of usual business hours. 

Additionally, Wasilewicz term saw the introduction of a safe space at ANU for the LGBTQI community. “The Queer Officer at the time had been asking for this for a long time”, and he discussed how the university officials responded positively. 

One low point Wasilewicz highlighted was the politics involved. “Winning an election campaign is fun, but the process can be bitter and personal. Some people end up having very strong feelings against you, which they don’t let go of, even years later.”

“Politics simply isn’t fun, at least not for me. On the plus side, it helped cement my view not to pursue a career in it.”

When asked about his relationship with the University at the time, he said “if you take a step back and look at the situation, you have a 22-year-old student sitting on a council amongst mostly 50-somethings, who have 30 years of experience plus running organisations, hitting huge career heights and impacting society. You have to be realistic about that experience disparity and the limits it places on your impact. Add to this problem the fact you only sit on the council for one year, and the reality is you can’t have that much impact. “

“They [the ANU] appreciate this gap in their knowledge and at least in my year, were keen to hear what the students thought. While ideologues of my era felt we were in some kind of war with the administration, the reality is that they are generally good people who want to help make the university a great experience for everyone.  

Wasilewicz  discussed how “confidence and self-belief” were two key lessons acquired from his time as president. 

”I was unsure whether I was good enough to take on the roles that I did. But the thing is, you put yourself out there, you make some mistakes, but ultimately you grow into the better version of yourself by taking those risks. “

The other lesson he learnt was that “Politics is not for me.”

“There is not that much at stake from an ANUSA election. The impact of electing the worst versus the best candidate is small, even on the student body, let alone the broader world. But that’s not what I, nor my opponents, believed at the time”

“Campaigns could be bitter cage fights; sometimes with people compromising their ethics (and sometimes there were none to compromise). This wasn’t pleasant. I should stress, I have great respect for many of those who opposed me in elections – some were true people who just had different views to me. 

The other lesson included how “As Student President, I was kindly invited to all sorts of interesting events from the various societies around campus. I met so many wonderful people and learned so many interesting things. I regretted that so many people of my era just didn’t engage much on campus – they missed out…. The experience broadened my mind.”

Wasilewicz’s advice to students for their career was to be “open-minded”

“Your first job could be amazing, but if it’s not (mine wasn’t), then don’t let it get to you – do your best where you are but look to move into something you do like. Find jobs where the senior people are doing interesting and rewarding things. One of the members of ANUSA Council, who kept in touch with me afterwards, told me that “life is a race. But it’s a long race.” 

Wasilewicz studied a Bachelor of commerce and a Bachelor of Laws. He is now working as Director of Research, European Equities and J.P.Morgan Asset Management. 

ANUSA PRESIDENT 2004, Max Jeganathan  

How Jeganthan’s experience prepared him for the workplace. 

“My time at ANUSA demonstrated the blessing of building authentic relationships of trust. Relationality is not just a key ingredient of success, but it’s part of what makes us human.”

A highlight for Jeganathan was “The University announced a first-year student accommodation guarantee.”

“It was well-intentioned, but it meant that all students in residential halls and colleges were not assured of accommodation beyond their first year. We had to fight pretty hard to get that rolled back to guarantee continuing accommodation for later year residential students who wanted it.”

A low point of Jeganathan’s time as president was “balancing the workload of being ANUSA President with study.” There were nights when I’d get back from the ANUSA office in the evening. Friends would be out, but I had to either study or prepare for something else ANUSA-related the following day. It was rewarding but relentless.”

Jeganathan recalls he was paid approximately $10,000 for his position as President, but a large sum of it went towards paying off his HECS debt.

The biggest achievement for Jeganathan was “In 2004, the Federal government had just passed laws allowing universities to raise fees by up to 30%. I really didn’t want that happening on my watch. Thankfully, we managed to hold it off. Of course, it wasn’t just me, but I’m pleased that I played a role in that. “

Three core lessons that he learnt were “Fear alone is never a good reason not to do something, it is both important and enriching to build friendships with people of different political views to yours and student politics (like all politics) has the capacity to bring people together and to divide people.”

When asked what advice he has for graduating students, Jeganathan says, “The world is a terrible and wonderful place.. People are rarely as good or as bad as they seem or as people tell you they are.”

Jeganathan is now a speaker and writer for the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX) and ‘OCCA’ The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. Both roles “involve communicating the Christian message in the public square.“

“I also do some policy consulting and advisory work. Speaking and writing on political, economic, financial and cultural trends are central to all of this. So my time at ANU (studying law and political science) has – thankfully – remained relevant and useful.”

ANUSA PRESIDENT 2006, Maria-Laura Crespo 

What is your current job? 

Crespo’s current role is the Director of Budget 24, Office of Chief Executive for Health New Zealand at Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand. 

First serving as Queer Officer before serving as President, Crespo was offered a stipend of $200 as Queer Officer and $13,700 as President. She studied part-time and  completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hon) and a Bachelor of Economics, majoring in Political Science and History (Hon).”

During her time as President, her team was able to secure funding for ANUSA in the face of union changes that had passed parliament, which saw the collapse of many student unions across Australia. ANUSA managed to survive, which was a highlight for Crespo. 

Crespo’s term also saw the introduction of the Disability office and Indigenous office as well as introduced a clause of student membership which ensured every single student was a member of ANUSA unless you opted out. This made membership available to all students and more inclusive, especially in comparison to other universities which required a paid membership.

An important lesson learnt by Crespo was “your allies can be found in the strangest of places. Whether it’s among the ranks of professors or your odd lecturer – they can be your strongest supporters”. 

Crespo mentioned her relationship with previous president Aparna Rao (2005) was vital in her and her team’s success during their term in 2006 as there was a smooth transition of leadership.

What advice do you have for students who are graduating at the end of this semester and entering the workplace?

Crespo’s advice for students entering the workplace is ”Don’t feel the pressure to know everything, so much more learning to be done, keep being curious, keep being open to others being shown how to do things. Finally, look for a good boss and a good team, don’t look for the job title”.

ANUSA PRESIDENT 2015/16 Ben Gill (He/Him)

Ben Gill studied a Bachelor of Science, a Bachelor of Engineering honours at ANU, a master of design at RMIT, and a Doctorate of Philosophy at Sydney University. Currently, he specialises in designing better outcomes for communities.

A consistent theme Gill noticed across his career was being thrown into chaos and acquiring the skills to find a structure within that chaos. During Gill’s time as President of ANUSA, he was thrusted a lot of responsibility very quickly so he had to figure out what was important in the moment, teaching him to think practically, a very important skill in the workplace.

Working for ANUSA also taught him how to juggle multiple responsibilities, how to focus and how to manage/lead teams which prepared him significantly for consulting work. 

Gill highlighted that he learnt what was possible when you invest in people and the amount of work that could be accomplished as a result of this. 

“Getting involved was very important as my role as President was very broad. I had to do what needed to be done, and learnt not to be sensitive about the role or ego.”

What was a highlight of your time as president?

A highlight for Gill was “Having the freedom, flexibility, resources and people to make tangible change.”

As Gill was President for two terms he felt immensely responsible for having the autonomy to make a meaningful difference. Gill highlighted a personal accomplishment of acquiring the funding to refurbish the old counselling centre to make it more accessible to disabled students.  

Gill was paid the ACT minimum wage of $17 an hour, which totalled to $30,000 a year for President. During his time as queer officer he was paid $2000. 

 His lessons learnt along the way included “Leadership starts with yourself, take care of yourself, keep asking for feedback and don’t presume you need to know what’s happening.”

“I grew so much in those years as it required me to go head to head with executives and lead a team of others. As a result, I had to pull really long hours which was not always realistic for the rest of the team. Take care of yourself first so you can take care of others and continue to evaluate yourself.” 

Gill did not plan to be president as he hated the campaigning aspect. So he had to find a campaign that worked for him. It was important to Gill that his campaign was not a sales pitch, so he based it on giving out free hugs. He was clear with what he was good at. “If you are aiming for student politics but campaigning is your issue, don’t cut yourself out”

“Things might not always go to plan. You might have a vision, but life throws curve balls. I’ve done lots of things in my time, including things that felt like the right choice until they didn’t. Go with the flow, learn things along the way. There is nothing wrong with feeling lost. In order to find your way, accept you are lost, and then follow the journey. Don’t make everything feel like a stepping stone because at times this is not overly helpful. Take a step back, because each decision has led me to where I am today”.

Finally, Gill recommended taking the time to understand what’s important to you. “Challenging things are happening in life. ANUSA was a job – the relationship with myself, my family then friends were my priority, career came after those things. There is more to life than the association and student politics.”

Gill currently works at Nous Group, an international management consultancy, focusing on human services issues that will have a substantial influence on people’s lives. He was one of the leading contributors in establishing the relationships unit at ANU, working with students and survivors.

Graphics by Will Novak

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