Elvia Nino-Elliott, sophomore marketing and entrepreneurship and innovations major, no longer recognizes the person she used to be.
Growing up in DeSoto, Kansas, Nino-Elliott was an introverted and shy person. Although she was in the marching band, she didn’t find herself participating in many high school activities.
“I definitely kept to myself,” Nino-Elliott said. “I wasn’t an outgoing person and then I got here [at Washburn] and I was like that my first semester. Then I met other people and they started to kind of get me out of that shell.”
During Nino-Elliott’s first semester at Washburn, she struggled to find her footing in her new environment, and she even contemplated dropping out. Her friends advised her to join the Washburn Student Government Association because they knew it would benefit her. Taking their advice to heart, she applied to be a WSGA senator during the spring 2024 semester. Since then, her Washburn experience has changed drastically.
“I was kind of forced to get out of my shell and talk to other people, which was really helpful,” Nino-Elliott said. “I’m definitely a whole lot better at talking to people and not being so socially awkward as I used to be. It’s also because of the people I’ve met within WSGA, I’ve joined other things or I’ve become involved in other things that I also really like and love where I’m a leader to other people too.”
This semester, Nino-Elliott is a WSGA senator, peer educator and resident advisor. She works incredibly hard to find the right balance and manage her time well enough to fulfill all of her obligations as well as staying on top of her school work. She relies heavily on her paper planner and phone planner to keep all of her assignments, meetings and events in line. She meticulously schedules out her day-to-day life to navigate her commitments.
WSGA senators attend weekly meetings Wednesday evenings that typically last around two hours. They are also expected to hold at least one office hour per week in the WSGA office. Each member also serves on one of three committees. Nino-Elliott presides on the allocations committee.
“We have to look at funding requests from the student [organizations],” Nino-Elliott said. “We typically have between three to six every week, depending, but we have to essentially look at them, look at their spreadsheets and make sure that everything that they’re asking money for equals out to the total that they’re asking.”
DeMarques Hinds, sophomore pre-engineering major, serves with Nino-Elliott in WSGA. He has been the diversity, equity and inclusion director for seven months and has witnessed her character firsthand. He admires Nino-Elliott’s commitment to generosity and compassion.
“She is very generous and she’ll give a lot more than what she receives in return,” Hinds said. “If there needs to be work done in the WSGA office, she’ll sit there and do whatever that work is, whether it be decorating something for homecoming or working on a project for her committee.”
Nino-Elliott loves seeing the positive changes that happen on campus. Trevor Ottman, WSGA chief of staff, recently got bike racks put in different locations around campus after issues of bike theft kept occurring.
“Just seeing how happy people were with that was really good to see,” Nino-Elliott said. “We are here to help. We are definitely here to hear the student voice and what they want and once we hear that, we talk about it and then we bring it to the higher ups.”
Ryan Durst, senior public administration major, also serves with Nino-Elliott in WSGA as a parliamentarian. They are also peer educators in the same class and spend a lot of time together. He has been amazed by her work ethic.
“She is extremely, extremely hard-working and it shows and that’s something I just really admire from her,” Durst said. “I think she’s doing a wonderful job in everything that she’s involved in and she’s wonderful to work with.”
Nino-Elliott has her goals set high as she plans on moving up the ladder and into a different leadership position within WSGA.
“I’m hoping for next year to be either a director of a committee or a chairperson for one of the committees,” Nino Elliott said. “It just depends if people return and [if] they want those positions [back] because we have really great people in those positions right now. They’re doing so much, which is so nice, but I would definitely like to get into one of those positions if I could.”
Through her time in WSGA, Nino-Elliott has been able to find a passion for leadership and has dedicated herself to helping others and improving the Washburn community.
Edited by Morgan Albrecht and Jeremy Ford
