Posted: February 11, 2015 | Written by Michael Isberto
Ravneet Kaur, 20, is the student delegate responsible for representing all 1.2 million community college students in California.
“The Board of Governors is responsible for policy implementation throughout the state,” Kaur said. “I was selected as the student member, so I will be representing 1.2 million students. Student input is important so that’s why they have one.”
As a Riverside City College student, Kaur has been heavily involved with student government. While it may not have been the case in high school, her passion for serving the public became apparent in college.
“My passion is for public service and whatever I feel like I can contribute to,” Kaur said. “I’ve been involved with Associated Students of Moreno Valley College and (Associated Students of Riverside City College), so I served in a bunch of various roles. I think my end goal was not to become a leader, but to fulfill the goals that I had the best way I could. I think that served as inspiration to other people. I guess that would count as being a leader, but that was never really one of my objectives.”
Deborah Hall, RCC student activities coordinator, is one of Kaur’s primary mentors. Hall has seen Kaur in different areas of leadership and speaks on how thrilled she is of her accomplishments.
“Ravneet will undoubtedly represent the Riverside Community College District as well as all community college students very well during her term as a BOG member. Ravneet has given countless hours to this college, community, the region, and the state in her various leadership roles. We are very proud of her appointment.”
As the student representative on the BOG she hopes to execute student ideas and change the college system for the better.
“I really want to move toward implementing a lot of resolutions that students have written because a lot of them are good,” Kaur said. “They’re obviously coming from the students who I represent, so I will be looking through those, hoping to find some that could be beneficial, because the Board of Governors can implement it throughout the state. It could really help students. My goal is to implement those changes.”
Kaur is attending RCC as a cognitive science major.
“It’s a mix between science, humanities classes, and pre-med classes,” Kaur said. “I love taking classes. In my three years here I think I have over a hundred units. I love classes. I just wanted to dive into everything, and with that major I can do that.”
The next step in her academic career is transferring to UC Berkeley and then going to Columbia University for medicine.
“I always knew I wanted to become a doctor,” Kaur said. “But my focus on cardiology came about because my grandma passed away from her heart problems and so did one my friends dad. So it just stuck with me. Once that idea clicked, it just clicked.”
Being a fulltime student and working as the student representative for the BOG is keeping her busy, but this has not stopped her from taking on exciting projects in her spare time.
She is working on writing a book inspired by her life, and she is also working on creating an edible water bottle to reduce landfill waste.
“I took an environmental science course,” Kaur said. “And one my (classmates) and I were able to create an edible water bottle that we presented at TEDx. After presenting it to TEDx, we got a mentorship and funding for it. So we’re just working on making it viable.”
They are working on making it stable enough to sell and put on the market.
Kaur believes in working hard and doing whatever makes one happy.
“Follow your passion, Kaur Said. “Everything that has happened for me happened because I’ve followed my passion. Following what makes you feel most fulfilled and happiest is my advice. I’ve always done that.”
