Hello everyone! My name is Faith Wobbeking, and I am running for President of BioCOM. I have been a member of this club for the past three years, and I am the current vice president. I am the best candidate for this position because I am determined to keep the club going no matter what the future holds, I have great leadership and communication skills, and I strongly value members’ interests. Firstly, I intend to continue to make BioCOM a valuable resource for students whether we meet in-person or virtually. If that means having a virtual bioethics panel, I’ll do whatever I can to make that happen. Secondly, my leadership abilities combined with my experience in the club will help BioCOM run as smoothly as possible. Lastly, I want BioCOM to be about its members, meaning that I will take input and tailor meetings to reflect your interests and needs. Overall, I want this club to be as successful as possible, and I will work towards that goal as president. 

Hey Guys! I'm Sarah Jang and I am currently a sophomore on the pre-PA track. I have been a member since freshman year and I am the current secretary for the school year 2019-2020. I am running for the secretary position again, treasurer, and vice president for 2020-2021. I believe I would be a good candidate for these roles because I am responsible, good at time management, and I really enjoy this club and what it stands for. I have previous experience being on the Executive board for BioCom and and before the quarantine was in effect, I was working in the pathology lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine(UMSOM). During the school year I plan on devoting time, not only to my studies, but to BioCom, UMSOM lab, and earning my EMT certification. I believe BioCom is a great place to get help or advice regarding many different topics and ideas, which can include: which professors are best, how to study for classes, how to get research opportunities and internships, and much more. I would love to be a part of that again, so please vote for me! Thank you! :)

The Biology Council of Majors is providing me with this great opportunity to participate in a more active role as part to this organization. As an applicant for the Vice president position, I am aiming to work tirelessly to understand and learn from the works of the President. I have previously been a part of SGA which has given me a better idea of how management functions by exceptional communication and targeted assistance when required. This can be best achieved via well mitigated interaction as well as oversight. I have worked under the previous President of SGA and with some of the members of the BioCOM to gain insight with the integral working of the organization starting from interchanging ideas to managing meeting schedules and proceedings. This is also an essential part for the BioEthics Commitee Chair as one is to organize and plan meetings and debates as well working on the topics and ideas in the ethical realm of the current societal advancements. Some of these can be learned through general knowledge and research of the biological inventions and many more by talking to many of you to understand your interests. This position will be the best use of the skills I practiced through my Model UN Conferences such as effect display of ideas alongside calm but directed introduction of ones personal ideals of a topic. Another aspect is the knowledge pool gained by discussions with colleagues and professionals. This base can be best established by interacting research professors who are well versed in their respective fields. The Lab Tours Committee Chair's goal is exactly that. They are to introduce one to different fields of interest by meeting and touring labs of different researchers on campus as well as learn about the research opportunities available to the members of BioCOM. To achieve these goals I plan to aid in the establishment of increased communication among the members of this organizations as well as professors and other professionals in the field. I also aim to conduct in a manner that would allow more engagement and retention rate of the members via programs organizations and committee based activities. Vote for me, Vanshika Agarwal, as these are the meaningful interactions we all deserve and will achieve. 

I can do the work and deliver exceptional results. I will fit in beautifully and be a great addition to the team. I have a combination of skills and experience that will be useful in the above positions. I am a self-motivated person who is willing to go above and beyond on any project, and to learn valuable skills on my own time. For example, I taught myself how to speak Spanish in college, simply out of a passion to learn another language. 

My work ethics, organizable habits, and discipline allows me to be a great candidate for either the position of Treasurer or Public Relations. I would make a great treasurer because math and any problem-solving questions happens to be some of my favorite things to do. I don’t shy away from calculations, in fact, it is something I have come to love over the past years. At my job, I am in charge of closing the books and making sure the cash count is correct at the end of the day. Aside from that, I oversee any transactions and manage cash flow during the day. As a Public Relations, I am up-to-date with the trends and new applications. I would make a great asset in promoting and encouraging other students to join BioCOM because social media is something I personally use on the daily. Because of this reasoning, I observe the different forms of communications used online to bring people in. Please consider me, Viviana Llontop-Maldonado, to be BioCOM’s next Treasurer or Public Relations.

I believe the role of secretary is an under-looked position in terms of importance to member retention and recruitment. Regularly sending out emails and keeping the information on the UMBC website up to date with what is happening in the general body meetings represents a club that is run respectfully and responsibly. As secretary I will:

     - Send out e-mails every week to members of the club. Emails would include information about events of the week, the current board member's emails and social media presence of the club. 

     - Upload slide presentations that were used during the general meetings to the club's UMBC website for member reference.

• Sarah Jang (See speech above in Vice President section). 
• Mia Joseph:

Hello, my name is Anestis Patrikios. I am currently acting president of the Hellenic Student Association. In like manner, the position of secretary may be seen as the person who deals with the paperwork, but I plan on doing much more if allowed and help all positions where I can. I am well organized and if my four years of undergrad as taught me anything, is that I know how to take great notes. I understand what it takes to help run an organization and help like minded individuals find a place where they can call their own, network, and succeed. 

Bioethics since the moment I have heard of it has always been a great idea to me; connecting people across the broad study of Biology is a personal dream come true. As a member of the BioCOM office, I would be sure to focus on the engagement of the members, as a council is not much without discussion and open contribution. Another main subject I will be sure to focus on is the exposure to unique research done by the community and abroad. I have wonderful expectations and plans for this Council, and with your help we could accomplish great things for it!

Hello everyone, my name is Bethel Ghezai. I am running for the secretary position. I would love to be a part of the BioCOM team and help out in the club as an officer. I believe I would be a good addition to the team given my attentiveness, note-taking skills, organization skills, good work ethic, passion for biology, and commitment to my responsibilities. Next year, I hope to participate in more of the club events and meetings as one of the leaders and I look forward to seeing everyone on campus again, hopefully with the quarantine being only a memory. Thank you. 

BioCOM is a club that represents a large portion of UMBC students. Most students at UMBC have STEM majors. With this, BioCOM should be an organization that has at least dozens of members attending its meetings every week. As the head of public relations, I will:

    - Increase flyer distribution and I will have times during the semester at which flyers will be manually given out to UMBC students. 

    - Create a stronger social media presence. Twitter and Instagram accounts for the club will be created and the club's Facebook account will have posts every week. 

    - Update the club's website. The BioCOM website is beautifully designed but it is outdated in terms of the information it contains. More social media accounts will be added to "Social Media" section and the names of board members will be updated.

    - Actively look for collaboration with other UMBC organizations. UMBC has other clubs, from the Chemistry and Biochemistry council of Majors to the American Red Cross Club, that discuss the same topics that we discuss. I will look to bring those clubs into collaborations with us.

All in all, biology is one of the most common majors in UMBC for undergraduates. With this, I believe much more of the UMBC community should be tempted to join this organization.

My name is Jon Sikora, I am a junior, and I am running for the Lab Tours Committee Chair position. I have held this position for the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters, and I believe that my experience in this position will prove to be a great asset for our club. I have made connections with many principal investigators here at UMBC and, as a result, I believe I will  provide our club with some very interesting lab tour opportunities this coming semester.  Additionally, I believe that my strong research background will make me a valuable resource for our members who are interested in learning more about research and ways to get involved in a lab, either on or off campus. I am constantly looking to improve as a member of our executive board, so I plan on communicating with our members to assess interest in different areas of research before planning our next lab tours. Thank you for your time, and I hope you will consider voting for me for Lab Tours Committee Chair.

I should be chosen because I would like help student to feel better about their major and find out all they can do in school which would help them in the future to find their own way, I would can to run lab tours, because I have been in one of the last years, and I find it really helpful. I think lab tour can help the student to find best labs which fit their goals and join that lab and learn much more about the topics and do research which helps them to feel like a real biologist and they can gain lots of experience and improve their skills and be more ready for grad school.

Hi guys! I am Heer Patel and I am running for the BioCOM Bioethics Committee Chair position for the 2020-2021 school year. I am a rising junior with a Biochemistry major and a Psychology minor on the pre-med track. I have been a member of this club since my freshman year at UMBC and have absolutely loved it. I have been able to successfully organize a Bioethics panel in Fall 2020 where we discussed "Antibiotic Resistance" and would love to continue to offer my organizational skills and connections to the club. Thank you so much!