GPI - Khoa Bùi, SATF Treasurer

By Bella Grimaldi

News Editor

Gatepost Archives

How did you get involved with SGA? Well before SGA, I was an orientation leader two years ago, and one of the orientation leaders with me was César [Matos, the current SGA president]. And after the whole event, César invited me to join SGA as a senator. And after I got into SGA as a senator, a lot of the eBoard members left for their own reasons. I personally don’t know the reason, but the treasurer position was open. I’m like, “Oh, makes sense for me. I’m a finance major, might as well join.” And I did that just because I knew SGA needed a treasurer for eBoard, too. So I wasn’t elected the first time. I was appointed, in a sense, and I just stayed there until now. As an international student, what brought you to FSU? Well, back in Vietnam, I used an international student company to do my paperwork, like my application paperwork, because I needed to focus on school. They gave me four offers. It was [Suffolk University] in Boston, University of Texas, here, and some other university in some state I forgot. I chose here because Suffolk and Texas gave me a scholarship, but Texas is so far away and I have no family there - so I didn’t want to go there. Suffolk gave me a scholarship, too, but it was way too expensive. It was like 60-70k per year. It’s a private school. At first, I was happy about that scholarship because they gave me 18k, but I was like, “I don’t think it’s going to be worth it,” so I didn’t go. Even though FSU didn’t give me any scholarships, it’s close enough to my aunt - it’s like 30 minutes away from my aunt - and the price is reasonable enough that I went here. What is your favorite part of being in SGA? Just being able to be involved and making the impact to different clubs, different organizations. Especially as treasurer, you get to see many different clubs, and get to hear about so many different events that you wouldn’t be able to hear otherwise, because sometimes, they don’t like to advertise as much. Things like Art Club or Alpha Omega or Outing Club - it’s a perk that you get, like, first scoop on what the event is because they’re asking for money for the event. … Even though it's a part that nobody thinks about - the money part - it is a crucial part of the event. I’m really happy to be able to have the chance to lead such a wonderful Finance Committee to help make that happen. Even though we’re not directly involved in the club, we’re indirectly involved in so many clubs. What are your goals as SATF treasurer? Just to be more transparent in the rest of the school year. Tell not just SGA, but more clubs exactly how we do things and our budget. Right now, I have not shared the total funding to any clubs yet. It’s just, right now, knowledge in my possession. Not even my Finance Committee members know, and I’m trying to change that. My first step is to start making monthly reports in SGA about our current budget and through that, maybe there are other senators or other members who can tell other clubs when the other clubs come and have a question. So they don’t have to rely on just me, but anybody who knows vaguely the number can talk about it. Also, I am playing around with the idea of making a financial literacy workshop for the students here. What advice do you have for other students? Just be involved. Whether that’s going to a club that you’re interested in, or just making friends and just helping people out. I would say the most important thing to keep in mind when you’re here is you’re not just here to study and get a degree. You’re here to find yourself and find your true self. Not just for you to fit in, not to belong to a community, but bring your own self to a community and change that for the better. And I pray that everybody on campus, now and the future students who come in, will be able to find their true self and their Father as well - the Father in heaven that I’ve been blessed enough to know.