CODY BARBO
Student don’t have many opportunities to sit down with their student body president, but during an all-American meal at Buddies Burgers, Cody Barbo told enough to give every Aztec a view into what makes him tick.
Position: A.S. President
Contact: as.president@sdsu.edu
Major: Communication
Minor: Business Management
Fraternity: Phi Kappa Theta
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA
Sports
Coming into college he played basketball and volleyball, but only hockey continued to stick.
“Hockey is my sport,” Barbo said. “They have this restaurant across the street from The Pond — well I still call it The Pond — and all the players used to go there after the games, so I would go to get autographs and meet the players.”
“My mom asked if I could get rid of my old hockey gear because ‘I haven’t used it in years,’ but I told her no, the skates still fit, the pads probably don’t because I have put on 40 pounds, but do not get rid of any of it.”
Critics on the job
“There are critics, but those are the people I want to talk to the most,” Barbo said. “I want to be very open with sharing information, and do better things for students on campus.”
Despite running on different tickets, Barbo said that he and the other A.S. executives have all become pretty close and complement each other well. “There was a mutual respect, a friendly competition in running for office,” he said.
Going out in the world
“When I moved into the community, when I was a sophomore, I didn’t know my nextdoor neighbor was a professor here at SDSU. The best thing is just reaching out as a student, introduce yourself and establish a working relationship (with your neighbors in the community).”
Right now, Barbo is helping to put together a video for students who may move out later in the semester, which they hope will educate students heading out into the community for the first time.
Switching majors
Although Barbo started as a business management major, after taking a few communication classes he couldn’t help but switch majors.
The geek within
He said most people don’t pick him out for it, but reading technology blogs and magazines, and keeping up with everything social-media related, is part of his daily life.
“I love technology and I wish I had more time to play video games,” Barbo said. “I went to Gen Con, which is like Comic-Con but for board and role-playing games – there were hundreds of people dressed up for the event.”
Future of Aztec sports
Barbo had a few interesting comments about a recent MWC leadership seminar where the student body from many universities got together.
“The Commissioner talked about Boise State coming in, and TCU,” Barbo said. “We talked about the BCS being a possibility in the future, but we talked about that playoff slot. Personally, I really want that playoff spot.”
ROB O’KEEFE
Rob O’Keefe met The Daily Aztec at the College Square Starbucks and chatted while drinking a latte about how he likes to get the most out of life.
Position: A.S. Vice President of Finance
Contact: as.vp.fin@sdsu.edu
Major: Political science
Minor: Business marketing
Fraternity: Sigma Phi Epsilon
Hometown
O’Keefe was very involved in high school, especially in sports and drama. He played basketball for four years (varsity for three) and performed in many plays. He has two younger siblings, Kate and Chris.
He’ll be the one in crutches.
Last semester, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament while playing basketball. O’Keefe’s currently going through physical therapy and is sporting some crutches.
“It was right in the middle of campaigning. I thought, ‘Of course this is happening to me,’” O’Keefe said. “My parents were joking around with me. They said, ‘Well, Rob, you ran unopposed so maybe this is the world’s way of telling you, OK, we’re going to let you win but we’re going to tear your ACL first.’ I was like, ‘OK, thanks Mom.’”
On his bookcase
O’Keefe’s favorite books are “SuperFreakonomics” by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner; “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell; “Four-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss and “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki.
Obsession
O’Keefe loves to-do lists. He said they prevent him from getting sidetracked and also help him reach his lofty reading goals.
“I make a to-do list every single day,” O’Keefe said. “Somewhere around brushing my teeth and making my bed is to read 10 pages a day.” This summer, his to-do list included reading memoirs of successful people.
Greek
His loyalty lies with Sigma Phi Epsilon.
“Our frat won most outstanding student organization on campus,” he said. “And community service hours – nobody touches us.”
His happy place
Camping with his family in Yosemite during the summer is one of his favorite things.
“If I could go anywhere in the world I’d do that,” O’Keefe said about his seven-day backpacking trip. He said the scenery in the wilderness made him ponder how it all came to be.
“This is God’s masterpiece,” he said.
Life philosophy
“When life comes at you, take it with ease,” O’Keefe said. “I don’t stress. I just try to figure it out. If cards don’t all fall in the right spot, I gave it my best shot. Things happen for a reason.”
What the future holds for the V.P.
After he graduates from San Diego State, he wants to take a year off to travel. He’d like to teach English abroad and learn to speak Spanish fluently.
“I want to do something off-the-wall a little bit,” O’Keefe said. “Like being a European bike tour guide. I figure that would be awesome, give tours of ancient medieval Europe and point out different things to people.”
MINA AZIM
It was a summer afternoon when Mina Azim met with The Daily Aztec outdoors at Scripps Cottage, so feeling the chills would have been an out-of-the-ordinary sensation. However, hearing Azim recall her harrowing experience of survival evoked such a response.
Position: A.S. Vice President of University Affairs
Major: Business Management
Minor: Leadership Development
Contact: as.vp.univ@sdsu.edu
Hometown
“I love this school and this job but sometimes it’s nice to just be able to go home and be home,” Azim said. She has an older sister who is studying family law on the East Coast.
Passion
Azim cares about Environmental sustainability.
“Growing up, my mom always supported sustainability,” Azim said. “But it wasn’t until I came to State that I could really see the impact that you can have on others.”
The accidents
She was leaving a Blink-182 and No Doubt concert with a friend. Azim, 15, was in the front passenger seat when out of the blue she felt like she needed to lie down. She adjusted the seat to recline. Her friend was making a left turn on a yellow light when a car full of intoxicated teens coming from the opposite direction didn’t stop at their red light. They t-boned Azim directly at 70 mph. The impact caused the car to flip and end up on top of her.
“I remember waking up and seeing the car and the loud noise of the jaws trying to pull the car off of me,” Azim said. “They told me the fact that I was laying down saved my life. If I was up, I would’ve been done.”
She was in and out of consciousness immediately after but Azim eventually awoke in the hospital and couldn’t walk. The impact had fractured her sacrum and her lungs were impacted. She had to train her body to be strong enough to walk again. She was in a wheelchair for six months, then crutches while undergoing intense physical therapy.
“As scary as it was, I would do it all over again because it completely changed me as a person,” she said.
A second accident happened when she was driving in the rain and a distracted driver behind her collided with her car so hard it spun out of control.
“We end up in the sixth lane facing the wrong way on the freeway,” she said. A car facing the correct direction hit her at 80 mph and her car flew back hitting the center divider. Amazingly, she survived with only a sprained neck.
Life philosophy
“I just want to experience life to the fullest because you never know when it can be taken from you,” Azim said. “I grew up with some resentment and negativity in life, just thinking, ‘Oh life isn’t that great.’ I didn’t really take life for what it was and I didn’t enjoy it. The accident was a wake-up call.”
What the future holds for the V.P.
“I’m not exactly sure,” she said. “I think I want to do something in the environmental advocacy sector. Getting more involved in A.S., I’ve become more interested in government and politics, when I used to avoid it. The government, that’s really where you make a difference.”
