Student body president keeps busy during summer, school year
It turns out that Student Body President Chase Mizzell keeps just as busy during the summer as he does during the school year.
Aside from jet-setting to Turkey for three weeks and taking a cruise to the Southern Caribbean, the fourth-year international business student attended multiple family weddings, spent some time at the FBI National Academy conference in Orlando and traveled to Washington, D.C., where he participated in three different conferences in the nation’s capital.
While in Turkey, Mizzell said that he “really dove into the culture and the experiences” around him. After spending two weeks with an international business study abroad group, Mizzell went off on his own to explore unfamiliar territory, making it his mission to delve into the country’s nooks and crannies.
“Turkey is remarkable,” Mizzell said. “The history is mind-blowing, like when you enter into mosques or museums, and they start explaining the history of two or three or even four thousand years ago; it’s very intriguing.”
Among his Turkish highlights: Talking to a Turkish shop owner about everything from music to secularization, enjoying traditional Turkish baths and blackberry Turkish ice cream, which he described as being “rare, but delicious.”
Over the Fourth of July, the Mizzell family embarked on a cruise to the Caribbean, visiting Aruba and the surrounding areas as part of their family vacation.
“Family is a huge part of my life, so spending time with them is really important,” he said.
Back in the U.S., Mizzell said that he connected with his campers at Palmetto Boys’ State, a program that “strives to instill values of courage, integrity, honor and respect” in rising senior boys from South Carolina high schools, Mizzell said.
As a third-year senior counselor, this was the last summer Mizzell was eligible to take on a group of campers.
In South Carolina, Mizzell was on USC’s campus planning Student Government activities and programs for the year.
“SG has been growing significantly over the past few years, and working on preparing for our members to return, as well as preparing projects to be completed, is a big part of the summer,” Mizzell said, adding that student leaders and administrators often have more time available during the break.
Over the summer, Student Government has been working on new programs, including Walk Home Cocky, a safe walk program; a new multicultural program called “Dive In”; and an effort to increase the celebration of university traditions.