Between leading the College’s Student Government Association, working on a senior government thesis, and preparing for graduate school and life after college, Aubrey Costello `27 has a busy day from start to finish.
Waking up
“I’m going to set the alarm at 8 a.m. and probably get out of bed at 8:45 a.m.,” Costello joked. Then, she makes sure to answer any pressing emails or texts. “I will admit I do check Fizz to check if I am being fizzed. Just, I just need to know if I’m like walking into a battlefield,” Costello said.
Aubrey says she’s not entirely surprised that she has a presence on campus. “It came with the territory of being SGA president,” she told me. She did not, however, anticipate choosing the College in the first place. “I applied on a whim,” Costello said. “Strangely enough, like the thing I actually thought about was everyone here wears jeans,” she added. “I’m looking around and… I feel like I’m a part of this family.”
Morning Routine
While she’s lenient on waking up, the next phase of Aubrey’s morning is regimented. “I make my bed in a very particular way. Sheets are always super smoothed out, tucked directly under the bed, pillows are always fluffed, I switch out my pillowcase every day,” Costello said.
Breakfast
“It always starts with a cup of black coffee,” Costello said. “Which, if I’m going to Mary Low or something, I am getting a cappuccino every time. But let’s be honest, I’m having my coffee and then going to Mary Low during the day.” She prepares a bowl of whole milk Greek yogurt with chia seeds and honey, sometimes with berries. “I’m very passionate about milk fat,” Costello joked.
Class
As a senior government major, Costello is taking two classes and a senior seminar. On Tuesdays, she has Race, Ethnicity and Politics with the Montgris Associate Professor of Government Carrie LeVan. The class is currently looking at different minority groups and their historical paths toward access to rights and opportunities in the United States. “I think it’s fascinating,” Costello said.
Most government majors have a concentrated interest in domestic or foreign politics. Costello, however, said she’s interested in “secret option three.” She wants to write legislation for outer space. “I’m gonna take what we’ve learned from international relations, especially the Arctic, and apply it to space,” she explained.
Mary Low
“After class, I generally go to Mary Low, which is my second home. Pretty soon I’m gonna just set up a bed there, and that will be great.” There, she orders her typical cappuccino and hunkers down. “I have what I call my senior thesis work time where I sit there and panic about my senior thesis,” Costello laughed. She also spends this time working on graduate school preparation and figuring out the next steps post-college.
After Mary Low, Costello meets with the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life because she is a fellow for Food for Thought, a weekly philosophical discussion group with catered meals.
Student Government Association (SGA)
As president, Costello leads the Executive Board meeting at 6 p.m. with her co-president, Jed Swan `28. The board is composed of eight individuals who were appointed in the spring.
“In all our SGA meetings we do our welcome, we do kind of a run-down of how we’re gonna go through our meeting, sometimes we break up into committees and then almost always we end with a Community Comment.” The latter is the newest development made by SGA, where students can come and pitch an idea or express a problem to the organization.
Costello’s main goals for SGA are separated into “two buckets”: the first is the “internal bucket,” which encompasses restructuring SGA to establish more community and transparency within the organization. The second is the “external bucket,” which involves bringing back traditions to the student body, like the upcoming Fall Ball on Nov. 14.
After the meeting, Costello and Swan debrief with Director of Student Engagement and Leadership Development Nathan Baird, who supervises SGA until 8:30 p.m.
Bedtime
After the long evening of meetings, Costello heads up to her senior apartment. “I, as a general rule, do not get much productive work done past 8:30 p.m., which is unfortunate,” says Aubrey. She goes home and unwinds with a hot shower, and is in bed by 9:30 p.m.
Final Words
“Remember to say thank you,” Costello said. “Honestly, it’s the gratitude that people express on this campus that makes it so special. Like I said in the beginning, I came here because people were wearing jeans and I stayed here because the community is so fantastic.”
On whether she loves the College or not, Costello said, “Yes, without a doubt. Could not wish for a better college experience.”
~ Anya Eder `29
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