Shaun Crisler knew you would read this article about his climb to become the Student Association president when he first arrived at NIU in 1998. He just didn’t know how to make it happen.

However, through a combination of hard work, charisma and voting coalitions, Crisler soon will be sworn in as the chief officer of the student government body that controls more than $1 million in student fees.

“I am very, very excited. Most people who I am close to know that one of my long-term goals from ’98 when I first arrived on campus was to one day be president, and it’s gratifying waking up in the morning knowing that I had been planning and working for this for the last four or five years.”

On the agenda for Crisler next year is an attempt to create more awareness about what the Student Association does.

“A lot of students don’t know about the Student Association and its purpose and how powerful it is,” he said. “It could be stronger if more students knew about it. I would like to see 23,000 people out there voting in Student Association elections.”

Crisler also hopes to implement more student-orientated programs like the online book exchange and place special emphasis on helping freshman adjust to campus.

Strangely, Crisler is a senior biological sciences major in a body dominated by political science majors.

“I am proud of the fact that my goals and my life never quite line up correctly,” he said. “It’s because I have so many interests in so many things. I have a lot of different interests, and my life reflects that. I never put myself into a particular box, and I think that’s one of the reasons I am able to work with so many people successfully.”

Crisler plans to graduate in December 2004 and hopes to join the Peace Corps.

“I like to travel, and I like to volunteer and work on projects. I really enjoy the gratification I get from people being happy from something I was a part of.”

Such a path doesn’t surprise Eric Johnson, Student Association director of governmental affairs, one bit. He said Crisler has qualities that are rare among today’s generation.

“He always puts his best foot forward on everything,” he said. “Anyone who knows him says he is a workaholic and always working 110 percent.”

Crisler credits his mother for helping him develop a strong sense of responsibility and his renowned work ethic. He has come a long way from his time at William J. Bogan High School in his hometown of Chicago.

“I learned so much being here,” he said. “I will probably cry when I graduate. I have learned so many life lessons here that I don’t even mind paying the tuition. Learning how to interact with people, learning how to write budgets, learning how to do programs, learning how to work with faculty and staff — all of that I have learned from Northern. I often wonder what kind of man I would be if I didn’t go to NIU, and it’s scary sometimes to think about that.”