When Jia Wen Wang and Amy Nguyen first met, their introductory interaction consisted of an enthusiastic hug from Nguyen that put Wang “in panic mode.”

“The first time I met Amy … she came in for a hug,” Wang said, retelling the story with Nguyen. “(I was like) ‘Now, what do I do?’ Because one, I’m meeting this person for the first time (and) her energy was way off the track for what I was expecting, and two, she was coming in for a hug. All I was in was panic mode.” 

Wang, who said she was a “pretty reserved” person at the time, was serving in her first year as the student body treasurer for the Student Government Association. She gave in to the show of affection initiated by Nguyen, the director of public relations for the 2023-2024 session. 

What started as an awkward, unexpected hug between the two girls quickly developed into a friendship and, eventually, a shared campaign for student body president and vice president.

“We just kind of got to learn more about each other as we worked together on cabinet and things like that. So I just really remember our first interaction, because it was full of panic for me,” Wang said, laughing. “ … (But) I reciprocate her hugs now.”

While the two have their many differences — such as their contrasting views on physical affection — Wang and Nguyen said they’re using both their distinct dissimilarities and common ambitions to work toward a unified goal: how to best serve and represent the students of Wichita State University.

Common ground at WSU

Wang and Nguyen, who are both first-generation students, chose Wichita State for its affordability and its proximity to their families. Wang, the oldest of four children, wanted to make sure she could be around to take care of her siblings if needed. Meanwhile, Nguyen, an only child, wanted to stay close to her parents.

But both said they’re glad they ended up choosing WSU, especially for its opportunities for involvement.

“Wichita State has been such a great university for me in general,” Nguyen said. “I knew I wanted to get involved when I first came into campus … whether it was like applied learning or being able to do more in the classrooms … I was able to take on those opportunities coming into Wichita State, and I ended up falling in love with it.”

And while both had similar motivations for joining SGA — a shared desire to advocate for and represent students without a voice — they initially had opposite reactions to joining the association. Wang wanted to join SGA as soon as she learned about it, serving as an underserved senator in the 65th session. She said it was intimidating at first, but longtime friend and Sen. Jasmine Peng helped introduce her to the organization. A year later, she became the treasurer under the Iris Okere and Sophie Martins administration.

“It’s taken a lot of growth to get me to where I am now, but I’m really glad that they (Okere and Martins) took a chance on me, and so I’m really grateful for the opportunities and the mentors that saw the potential in me and guided me to where I am today,” Wang said.

Conversely, Nguyen said it took a little more coaxing to convince her to join — but the Okere Martins administration also played a significant role in her decision to run for a Student Senate cabinet position.

“I came onto campus and I was like, ‘Student government is not for me,” Nguyen said. “I don’t want to be involved in it … I’m not really interested.’ But then that’s when Iris Okere from the Okere Martins administration came up to me and just talked a lot about her experience in SGA, and asked me to apply for cabinet … And that’s when I kind of dove into SGA.”

Wang and Nguyen said they had a whirlwind start to their student government careers: learning SGA policy and procedures and learning how to interact and engage with constituents. But by the end, they fell in love with their roles and the opportunities for student advocacy.

“I had no idea what to expect. And so it was a crazy start, for sure, but then I was able to learn a lot through that experience,” Nguyen said. “At the start, I didn’t think I would come back, but then at the end, I was like, ‘Actually, like, I really do enjoy it here.’”

The encouragement from their mentors and the opportunity for advocacy would lead to Wang and Nguyen’s fateful encounter in the SGA office and, later, their decision to campaign together for the 68th session.

Wang Nguyen campaign

Initially, the pair considered running for student body president and vice president last year for the 67th session. However, they both had opposing areas of improvement they wanted to focus on before tackling a larger representative role for WSU’s more than 17,000 students. 

Wang, who was fairly familiar and comfortable with SGA’s policies after a successful year as student body treasurer, was still working on becoming more outspoken and outgoing when interacting with her constituents. 

Wang said, from her first interaction with Nguyen, that she admired her personable nature, and saw a strength in her where she saw a weakness in herself.

“With Amy, I really admire her people skills … just how easily she was able to go person to person, she literally knew everybody on campus,” Wang said. “ … And so that really inspired me to strive for that ideal of getting out there … just being able to reach out my comfort zone in terms of my people skills and really striving for that level … And seeing Amy already being a baby freshman and she knew, like, literally everyone, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s how I should strive to be.’”

Nguyen, conversely, decided to hold off on campaigning because she wanted to become more familiar with the ins and outs of SGA first.

“I came into this not really knowing how SGA worked … And so I felt like it would be so dumb of me if I ran and I didn’t know the inner workings of SGA … I wanted to take that year and be able to dive in more … to actually understand the grasps of the Student Government, and being able to understand how I can physically make an impact in that position.” 

Throughout the 66th session, she had seen Wang in action during Senate meetings, student fee hearings and everything in between. By the time that session was coming to an end, Nguyen was confident that she wanted to run alongside Wang for the 68th session. 

“And so when I looked at Jia Wen, I was like, ‘First of all, she’s qualified. Second of all, she’s a badass. Third of all, she will … strive for what she wants.’ And so, like, that’s something I really respected. And I was like, ‘We got this, like, we could do this. I’ll do whatever you need me to do.’”

The Wang / Nguyen campaign is based on three fundamental pillars: belonging, intentionality and persistence — qualities each candidate not only respects in their running mate, but sees the potential in for reforming and improving SGA. But, above all, the duo are driven by their shared goal to create student-centered change based on experience.

“I do see and understand that, as a student, things get difficult, things are hard, and so I just really want to be able to make an impact and change. That’s not just limited to the funding policies,” Wang said. “… I just want to make sure that the impact that I make is very student centered, and not just all within the policies of student fees and things like that.”

They also want to grow engagement and increase the general knowledge of what SGA is and what it does among the student body. That starts, Nguyen said, with personal interactions and conversations.

“We can’t expect them to know what we do and who we are, but we’re not making that effort to get to know them as individuals and as them as organizations,” Nguyen said. “That’s something I would love to work on during my time.”

Ahead of the SGA presidential and vice-presidential elections, the pair is looking at how their strengths and weaknesses complement each other. As the only ticket running for the president and vice president position, Wang and Nguyen don’t face the competitive pressure of most campaigns, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have high standards for themselves — and each other.

“I talk about how high my standards are, but I also feel like she (Nguyen) has equally or even higher standards,” Wang said. “ … And so I know that if there’s anything that I’m lacking in, she’ll be able to hold me accountable in that aspect, she’s not afraid to speak her mind around me … I wouldn’t want it to be any other way.”

The 2025 general election is April 7 to April 9. Students can vote here.

Editors note: A previous version of this story said that Nguyen was a senator and the director of community outreach during the 66th session instead of the director of public relations. This story has since been updated.