Student Mike Roman to transfer to Oklahoma in spring
Kavahn Mansouri
-Editor-in-Chief-
Whether he is posing with a stuffed bear named “Chemy,” helping out around campus events and or organizing a “formal Friday” dress day, STLCC-Meramec student and soon-to-be alumni Mike Roman considers himself a changed person after his four years at Meramec.
Roman spent his first semester at Meramec in the summer of 2001. He took a math course before shipping off to University of Missouri (Mizzou) where he planned to spend four years. Roman said that although Mizzou was a good school he did not think it was for him and decided to come back to St. Louis.
Roman began working at Adopt-A-Stray, a pet adoption company, where he said he got his will to work back.
“Something about working there, working for somebody else, got my work ethic back. Doing something that wasn’t for myself just motivated me more,” Roman said.
In 2008, Roman decided it was time to go back to school. He was a manager at St. Louis Bread Company and was ready to get back into the educational grind.
Roman said he wanted to ease back in so he only took 9 hours between Fall 2008 and Spring 2009.
“I took some classes I thought I would enjoy, to not stress myself out, to ease back in. I got my groove, got good grades and did well. But I wasn’t really looking to get involved in anything,” Roman said.
As time went on, Roman said he found himself looking for opportunities to get involved. The first that arose was Meramec’s Geo Club. Roman joined the club, ran for president and won.
Roman said that with the Geo Club and anything else he puts his mind to, the task is not finished until it’s finished.
“Anything I put on myself, I like to complete,” Roman said.
Although Roman had earned the position, he said he had one major obstacle to get around: his fear of public speaking.
“I was always terrified of public speaking… terrified. I always tried to avoid those things,” Roman said. “When I got here, I just said I can’t do this anymore, it’s not good for me. I felt I had a lot to offer in certain ways, but I wouldn’t have the opportunity to offer it unless I just broke through that barrier.
Roman said that he takes a lot of his personality from his parents.
“My dad is always thinking critically about something, he doesn’t just believe what he hears. He’ll listen to it, and then he’ll think about it and get different perspectives on it. Critical thinking. Critical thinking is key,” Roman said. “I force myself to listen as much as I can. There’s all those cliches about ‘there’s two ears but there’s only one mouth’; that’s true and there is a reason people say that.”
Roman said that no matter what, he gives everyone a chance.
“I try my best to be good to every person I meet, as best I can.”
After earning his presidency in the Geo Club, Roman continued on to join the Student Government Council (SGC) to reach out to other students. There he earned the titles of Public Relations Officer and eventually President of Student Government Council. Roman was also a student ambassador, a Phi Theta Keppa officer, a member of the Math Club and the President of the Geo Club.
Roman said that one of SGC’s main goals when he joined was to get student government to have a meaning.
“We all really wanted student government to stand for something,” Roman said. “We started doing more things.”
Roman said that one of his main goals is to make Meramec feel like a community.
“It’s so important, especially at a commuter campus, for students to have a sense of community. A lot of students come here and don’t have that,” Roman said.
Only recently SGC has become popular among students, according to Roman.
“We’ve seen student government perpetuate nonstop. Every semester there’s more students wanting to get involved because they actually do something,” Roman said.
Being a leader in SGC gave Roman a feeling of responsibility and community.
“You’ve got that responsibility now to give back, and if you don’t do that there’s not going to be people excited doing events; you’re not going to raise money and the community is going to suffer,” Roman said.
Roman said the leadership experience and opportunities Meramec offered will be a great benefit to his future.
“I’m going into geophysics; let’s say I get a job in an industry, I not only have my managing experience, but I have leadership experience from school and I’ve got things to show for it,” Roman said.
Roman said that his experience at Meramec has changed his outlook on meeting new people.
“The staff, the administration, the faculty and the fellow students I’ve met, I’ve learned from every single encounter I’ve had. That’s why I try to go out and meet as many people as possible,” Roman said.
Meramec offered Roman more experiences and opportunities while making him a more open person.
“This school has provided me with more opportunities than I could ever have hoped to get, and the best thing that I’ve learned is to be more open to opportunities that are available to me. Experience things, learn what I can from those things and move forward with them,” Roman said.
Roman said that Meramec, more than most places, has people who are truly good.
“I have been so pleasantly surprised by the caliber of people here. You can go anywhere in the world and find good people and bad people, but we have great people here,” Roman said.
Being that this is Roman’s last semester he said that he would not be sad about leaving but that it is the right time for him to go.
“I needed to be here this long, this was the right time for me to go. I’m ready. I’ve done my best, I’ve made mistakes but I’ve learned from them. I feel like the reason that I’m not sad to go is because this place has prepared me so well to move on,” Roman said. “I’ll brag about this place wherever I go.”
Roman has been accepted to the University of Oklahoma and will be attendeing the college in the spring. But he said he will always hold Meramec close to his heart and believes that Meramec has changed him as a person and a professional.
“I would not have as good as a life and be as open to as many opportunities if I had gone anywhere else,” Roman said.
