Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Oxford, Conn.
Major: Political Science
Clubs/activities: GW’s Young America’s Foundation, College Republicans, GW for Israel and GW Hillel
Previous SA experience: None
Favorite GWorld spot: Roti
Dream job: Campaign manager
Fun fact: I love dancing…I got it from my parents.
Favorite D.C. museum: National Museum of American History
All-time favorite city: Philadelphia because it’s not too crazy like New York
Favorite show on Netflix: The Office

The summer after his freshman year, Adam Johnson worked on a campaign for a Connecticut state representative – who lost. But Johnson said he walked away from the experience knowing he wanted to work on campaigns professionally.

Now Johnson is running his own campaign for Student Association president, a job he said he wants because he can provide a fresh perspective as someone who has never been in the SA before.

Johnson said that while gathering signatures during for his petition to become a candidate, he found many students felt distanced from the SA – to the point that some didn’t even know what the group does.

“I am an outsider who is qualified to run from my outside work and being a student all these years, but also as someone who has felt disconnected from the SA,” he said. “I can represent people who don’t even know what the SA is.”

While Johnson’s experiences on campus are in organizations like the GW College Republicans and GW’s Young America’s Foundation’s executive board, he said he has ideas that go beyond politics.

The son of a psychiatrist and clinical psychologist, Johnson said that if he’s elected, his first priority will be increasing students’ number of free individual counseling hours at Mental Health Services from six to eight.

“This policy will most impact students in the long term,” Johnson said. “I think it is practical enough to be passed and strong enough that it can be affordable.”

Johnson said he will also pursue a policy that allows students to use electronic devices to take notes in every class.

“If passed, you would be able to use your laptop even with professors who tell you not to,” he said.

Johnson said he has met with Associate Dean of Students Tim Miller to discuss his platform goals, and that he also contacted Dean of Student Affairs Peter Konwerski but hasn’t met with him.

While Johnson may not have the SA experience of his competitors, he said that should not be how students decide to vote, anyway.

“If I had every student in front of me one minute before the polls open, I would tell them don’t vote for who you think is the most popular,” Johnson said. “Please go out and vote on platform issues.”