Meet Parfaite Wirira — Akilah’s New Student Guild President
Parfaite Wirira is already busy as the elected leader of Akilah’s student government.For the next year, she and her Cabinet will oversee student leadership on campus and serve as the link between students and the faculty and administration. We talked to Parfaite about her leadership ambitions, her tasks ahead, and the importance of collaboration.
When Akilah’s new Student Guild Cabinet was sworn in, Parfaite Wirira stood front and center as the new President. Parfaite, a second-year student, studies Information Systems, and her passion for leadership and collaboration makes her the perfect fit for her new role.
“I want to use my new role to support my fellow students in any way I can. I want to be exemplary to them, someone they can speak freely to — someone who can be their voice. I will be looking out for their interest while also following my passion for leadership,” Parfaite says about the big task ahead of her.
“It’s not an easy task to make your peers trust you enough to be their leader. I need to show them that they can be free with me. You can never be arrogant. I try to go around and talk to everyone, become familiar with all our students. That’s how you gain people’s trust. Make them comfortable around you, show them that you are there to help them.”
Just 21 years old, Parfaite is younger than a lot of the students she is leading. But that does not intimidate her.
“I’m very young — people are often surprised when I tell them my age. They’re surprised that you can be a leader at such a young age. But age doesn’t matter — it’s about your actions and ideas.”
Parfaite is sworn in as the new President of Akilah’s Student Guild. She has pledged to work collaboratively with all diploma programs.
Collaboration is Key
In her new role as President, Parfaite will have to balance plenty of responsibilities on top of her regular studies. Parfaite and her Cabinet of Ministers will oversee campus activities and initiatives, external events and obligations, campus visits and tours, student well-being, faculty and staff requests, and much more.
“I’m very young — people are often surprised when I tell them my age. They’re surprised that you can be a leader at such a young age. But age doesn’t matter — it’s about your actions and ideas.”
Parfaite is ready to take on whatever might come her way. It’s all about good planning, she says.
“I’m always ready for something that comes up. There’s a lot of work to be done to help people around me, and that’s my commitment. I am making plans, writing everything down, and making schedules and lists of projects. I need to find a good balance of school work and my responsibilities as President. Daily lists and tasks will help me do that.”
As leader of the Cabinet, Parfaite is responsible for overseeing the different ministries, including Information, Finance, Entertainment, Justice & Holistic Affairs, and Health, and ensuring ministers fulfill their responsibilities and keep their campaign promises.
Akilah’s new Student Guild is sworn in.
“I’m making sure to get updates from the ministers every day. I need to create close ties with them. We are from different classes and programs, but we need to work together. I’ll be communicating with them very regularly, hosting general meetings, and following up with them.”
One of Parfaite’s own promises is to launch a campaign encouraging students to use the campus library more.
“I’m starting a campaign called Read Me to motivate all students to read more. We don’t use the library enough and we have so many good books in there, so much knowledge that we need to utilize. I will run the initiative for one week each trimester, where we will all go to the library every day and explore what it has to offer. I am collaborating with our instructors to integrate it into our schoolwork so we can get the most out of it.”
“I’m making sure to get updates from the ministers every day. I need to create close ties with them. We are from different classes and programs, but we need to work together.”
Linking Tech and Leadership
For the second year in a row, an Information Systems student will hold the Guild presidency. As a member of the smallest and newest diploma program on campus, it is quite the achievement to get the entire student body to vote for you, particularly when they may not know you from class. But Parfaite believes that Information Systems students’ focus on collaborating with classmates from other diploma programs makes them well-suited for the role.
“As an Information Systems student, you need to work hard and be sharp and quick to adapt to different situations. We are a small class, and we have many projects where we need to be good at collaboration. We go outside the classroom and work with other students. And maybe we are also just bright! We learn so many programs and a lot of math in class — I think it opens up our minds,” Parfaite laughs.
‘Akilah Is Not Just for Studying’
This year, Akilah grew substantially, welcoming 400 new students across our Day and Evening & Weekend Programs. This calls for strong leadership and time-management skills from the new Guild President and her Cabinet, who will be representing all students, whether they study in the day or night program. According to Parfaite, they are ready for the task.
Outgoing Student Guild President Sonia Rugwiro passes the torch to Parfaite and her new Cabinet.
“In the Cabinet, we created a timetable of future events and a plan for how to keep students busy. We are all studying hard, but we also want people to feel free here, relax, have fun, and do different social activities next to their academic schedule.
Akilah is not just for studying — you need to also enjoy the many opportunities you are exposed to here. Our schedule will guide us to fulfill our promises of leading the students. It won’t be easy, but if we plan well, it will work. Students will know that Akilah is not only about studying but also about learning new things, having fun, and enjoying the experience.”
The increased hours and commitment to work evenings and weekends does not bother Parfait.
“When you’re passionate about something, it’s not too hard to work a lot. Being here on weekends will not bother me. It’s my duty to help my fellow students and be their voice. I can’t be that if I’m not there to listen to them. We will work together in the Cabinet to serve all students. If I’m not around some days, someone else from the Cabinet will be. We are all very committed to making everyone feel part of the Akilah family.”