Ever since high school, Talar Alexanian has been trying to make a difference in her community.
“I tried to take whatever opportunities came my way and I loved every minute of it,” she said. “I enjoyed getting to know my high school campus and that’s why that’s the same spirit I brought with me when I came to CSUN.”
That determination ultimately led her to where she is today: vice president of Associated Students at CSUN and the first-ever CSUN student trustee for the entire CSU school system.
The road to becoming a trustee was not an easy one. Alexanian had to go through six months of interviews — including one with Gov. Jerry Brown — before being awarded the position. As a result, she will have the unique opportunity of representing all 437,000 students in the 23 state schools in California.
“I’m so humbled by that privilege,” Alexanian said.
Her partner in crime, A.S. President Christopher Woolett, feels that Alexanian’s double duty will not only help students at CSUN, but students across the board.
“I think that she can play a huge role in advocating for the students on our campus by advocating for all students in general whether it’s on a national or state level,” Woolett said.
Alexanian is looking forward to using her A.S. vice presidency as a tool to make her an effective trustee.
“I love that I’m having both roles because I feel like to be in the role of student trustee, you always have to have that connection to the students themselves,” Alexanian said.
Alexanian was a go-getter from the beginning of her time with the student senate. A.S. General Manager David Crandall recalled a time when she asked to chair the strategic committee that sets annual goals for the campus.
“To be honest, I was a little skeptical,” Crandall said, thinking that she would need his help in the beginning. “And then [I] got in there, and I was useless.”
When Alexanian first arrived at CSUN, she immediately started working with the Matador Involvement Center. She later landed a position as an upper-division senator, which is where her love of student government stems from.
“My experiences [with the Matador Involvement Center] — interacting with the students, putting on different events for Unified We Serve, which is the volunteer program — really allowed me to see what the student population feels about this campus and what we can really do in terms of student advocates to reach out to not only our faculty and administration, but also even our politicians and people in our local community to make sure that CSUN is getting the best resources and making sure that we’re putting on events that are really reaching out to our population,” Alexanian said.
Crandall noticed Alexanian’s potential right away, and feels that she will not only be a great vice president, but also be able to effortlessly balance her role as student trustee.
“I’m a big fan of Talar,” Crandall said. “She continually reveals a capacity to do whatever the situation calls for.”
Woolett feels like he has found a great colleague in Alexanian because of her positive attributes.
“The qualities I was looking for [in a vice president] is just someone with good integrity and with vision and I think she definitely has both of those,” he said.
Currently, Alexanian is majoring in journalism with an emphasis in public relations. When she graduates from CSUN, Alexanian plans to combine her P.R. education with her love of political science.
“I see myself definitely giving back to my community and continuing to be an agent of social change through either public affairs or going into a career in politics and helping individuals in that way,” she said.
With her two new positions, she is looking to encourage students to be more involved with the campus in various ways.
“I hope that by the end of this year, that students can feel more of a connection to the campus and feel enrooted [sic] in the CSUN community,” she said.