Student government experience sets stage for ASCWU president’s future career

ASCWU President Hondo Acosta-Vega has seen his share of challenges on his path to graduation this spring.

As a first-generation college student who graduated from Auburn High School in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, pursuing higher education was far from a guarantee for him. And yet, in 2021, his path took him to Central Washington University.

“In the end, it came down to the financial aid that was available,” Acosta-Vega said. “I came to CWU because I was able to get a full-ride scholarship so I could focus on my education and start to build up my resume while I was at it.”

Initially, Acosta-Vega was determined to keep his head down and finish a degree in primatology as uneventfully as he could, not considering himself cut out for student leadership following a high school career spent out of the spotlight.

“I spent a lot of time in robotics and the school newspaper and stuff like that when I was in high school, so student government was not on my radar at all,” he said. “Five years later, it has become the most important experience I’ve had in college.”

Acosta-Vega’s outlook on student government changed during his freshman year when a close friend, Nico Eria, suggested he join that year’s election commission, which is charged with overseeing ASCWU election proceedings. Although he enjoyed the work, Acosta-Vega initially felt that the experience would be the full extent of his involvement until fate, once again, chose a different path for him.

“That was a really messy election year, and at the end of it, I felt like I wanted no part of it again,” he said. “So of course the president at the time, Madeline Koval, told me that she was nominating me for chair of the election commission for the following year, and my adventure with Student Government continued.”

Since then, Acosta-Vega has served as Student Senator for the College of Education and Professional Studies, Student Senate Speaker, and then, finally, ASCWU President. Along the way, he found that his experiences with leadership were having a transformative effect on his career ambitions, causing him to pivot his major.

He ultimately decided that a degree in Instructional Foundations would help him better prepare for a career centered around serving students like himself.

“I really enjoy working with college students, and one day, I hope to become a VP for Student Engagement and Success somewhere,” Acosta-Vega said. “I believe that, in those positions, you should be working with the students on the ground level, working up as opposed to directing down.”

To that end, Acosta-Vega hopes to continue his education, after a stint on the job market, to give him a grasp on who he is as a professional. In the meantime, he’s working on his debut novel, centered in Arthurian myth and the importance of protecting the things that matter most.

Having had the opportunity to present his work at the annual SOURCE conference, with the help of faculty mentor and Assistant Professor of English Ali Unal, Acosta-Vega feels emboldened to finish the project as yet another way of lending the world his unique perspective on life.

“Dr. Unal really helped guide me through that process as a mentor,” Acosta-Vega said. “The experience helped me realize that I needed to keep working on this, and I hope to focus on it even more after I graduate.”

With commencement just a few weeks away, Acosta-Vega looks toward the future with excitement for what’s to come, and respect for the journey that has brought him this far.

“I came here on my own, with everything I owned, and very little support. I’m leaving with a network of close friends, as a new version of myself that I have built alongside them,” he said. “Figuring out who I wanted to be, and then working towards it, made my college experience entirely worth it.”