Meet Andre DiFilippo!
Andre is currently a Business Marketing major going into his Sophomore year at UMass Lowell. He’s from Saugus, Massachusetts which is about 45 minutes from Lowell. At his high school, Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden, he was Senior Class President and participated in a number of other clubs. “I ended up choosing UMass Lowell because I felt as though it was the best combination of a quality education, good atmosphere/campus, and an affordable price,” quoted Andre.
Andre enjoying a meal at a Student Gov event
Andre is a well respected individual amongst his peers and was elected to be on the Student Government panel. He wrote all about his experience below:
“I ran for the position in the Fall election my freshman year along with 14 other people and won, and then was re-elected at the end of that year for my sophomore year where I and 8 other people ran for the position. Basically what my position does is represent the student body as a whole, rather than an individual group of students like other senators who represent a specific college (like a senator of the Manning school of business, senator of the school of engineering, etc). I’d say my general experience for the first year was really good, I sat on the Finance Committee which handles grant requests from clubs and organizations, and I also sat in on the Events Committee which throws different events and co-sponsors other club/organization events. I also visited the state house with a few other senators and executive board members last semester where we spoke with state senators to advocate for higher funding.
In terms of what I want to do this upcoming year I would like to work on affordability and assist in creating conversations that help us find ways to prevent tuition hikes, such as the recent 4.9% increase the board passed. In turn, I also would like to continue advocating for higher funding from the state itself because the rate of tuition we pay is heavily based off of how much funding the state gives to UMass Lowell – in fact, the UMass board has promised to freeze tuition for 2 years if that state can provide funds to cover 50% of the costs UMass has. My position in student government basically works to maintain the affordability of this college for my peers.“
Andre posing at a UML student gov event
Please remember that the members, such as Andre, on the Student Government board represent the entire student body. He is friendly and willing to listen to any concerns or praises that students may have!
Many freshman business students living on campus either lived in Fox or Leitch Hall on east campus. Andre lived in Leitch Hall with three other roommates in a quad. This dorm is strategically placed right across the street from the campus dining hall and the gym, two of his most visited locations. “Making friends was pretty easy for me since there’s a lot of varying types of people on campus, and every person has something different about them.” Take it from Andre, an outgoing and aspiring business student, that living in Leitch Hall gave him the full experience of making new friends.
“One of my favorite memories from freshman year that I can remember was almost dying on a RiverHawk Roadster bus on my first Saturday night at UML. If you’ve ever rode on one of the busses traveling from north to south campus, everybody knows the bus drivers love to take those crazy, windy backroads. Let’s just say my first bus ride took a turn for the worse when they hit the brakes too hard and all of us students went flying out of our seats. It was invigorating. Just like a chain of dominoes, the kid to my left fell onto me, his nose hitting my head, and then I fell and hit the metal pole you use to hold if you’re standing. All in all, my head broke three things on the bus that night: the metal pole, the kid’s nose, and my trust in public transportation” Andre’s crazy experience on the Umass Lowell bus did not stop him from frequently visiting south campus, where many of his friends were located. “I also enjoy being Senator At-Large of the student body and I love going to the hockey games at Tsongas Center as well.”
Side note: If you are reading this and have never been to a hockey game, please take the opportunity to go to one as a student! They are free and always give you something fun to do on a Friday or Saturday night.
If you like Andre’s story and want to share your own experience or elaborate on one of his, please email me, Kellsie Howard, at Kellsie_Howard@student.uml.edu!