John Pearce is NSU’s Student Government Association President for the 2016-2017 school year, and he is nearing the end of his term. Looking back on his presidency, Pearce explained what the experience has been like for him.

When asked how he has managed being both a student and a leader, his response was a very humbling one: barely.

“There are some days that I just feel really drained at the end of the day,” Pearce said. “Especially this last week where on Thursday I had six meetings, two midterms and homework that had me up until 2 a.m. Then, I had to be up on Friday to speak at a breakfast at 8 a.m. and attempted to get some homework in before my meeting at 12 p.m.”

He credits those around him for helping him stay on top of his hectic schedule.

“It has all come down to my professors being forgiving for me being late on something and our adviser nudging me to say, ‘do not forget this,’” Pearce said.

As president, Pearce has had to learn his own style of managing the SGA office. At first, he tried to do everything, but soon learned that delegating work does not make anyone less of a leader.

When he needs to be in two places at once, Vice President Tré Nelson is often sent in his place. Pearce also tries to give cabinet members more experience by giving them assignments when their departments are slow.

Pearce is not new to juggling his school work and extracurriculars. In his time at NSU, he has served as a Freshmen Connector and a Demon VIP, held several positions within his fraternity, PIKE, is in Order of Omega and Alpha Lambda Delta and previously served as a senator in SGA. After his undergraduate career at NSU is completed, he hopes to attend LSU Law School in the fall.

“The best thing I have gotten from this experience is definitely the networking,” Pearce said. “I was casually talking to Gerald Long the other day, and he is the President Pro Temp of the Senate.”

“The first time I ever flew was going to D.C. [for a conference],” Pearce said. “Now I know how to balance a million dollar budget.