Jacqueline Schertz is SGA’s 2023-24 student trustee. Photo by Mercury Bowen.

The Lake Land College (LLC) 2023–24 Student Government Association (SGA) student trustee is Jacqueline Schertz. Schertz is from El Paso, Illinois and graduated from El Paso Gridley High School. During high school, Schertz was involved in various extracurricular activities. She participated in basketball, volleyball, softball and was a part of the student council. She was also a part of FFA all four years and served as her chapter president, as well as a section 9 officer for the 2021–22 year. Additionally, she held a position as a class officer.

At LLC, Schertz is an agriculture transfer major. While unsure exactly where she wants to transfer, she said she is “deciding between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Iowa State (ISU).” 

Outside of school, Schertz greatly enjoys a variety of different activities. One of the things she enjoys most is showing cattle. “I primarily show simmental and angus heifers,” she noted. In addition, Schertz shared her enjoyment of spending time with her family.

Schertz is involved not only in SGA but also in the Ag Transfer Club and the Collegiate Farm Bureau. She believes involvement is a vital part of success and is one thing that motivates her to participate in other things besides her personal studies. “I think if you have too much free time on your hands, you won’t succeed as well as if you were to be involved. I’ve found that true both in my personal and in my school life, so I try to stay involved in many things so that way I can better stay focused on everything going on in life,” Schertz stated.

Schertz also shared that her motivation stemmed from former student trustee, Maggie Kelly. Schertz said, “I saw her role in SGA from the role of student ambassador, and she actually really encouraged me to go for it.”

As SGA student trustee, Schertz has a variety of responsibilities. “I attend all board meetings; they’re monthly. As well as I’m on the research and development committee, so I do my best to attend those meetings when they don’t interfere with class time. I then write a report of the student activity board, SGA, [and] the student advisory committee, which is on the state level. I make a report of everything that’s happened in the past month from all of those things and report back to the board,” she explained. 

Throughout her time serving for SGA, she hopes to help make a difference at LLC. “I want to make our college just a safe place for students to go to college, make sure everyone’s voice is heard, and just advocate better for the students and other people to make Lake Land shine its best light,” Schertz stated confidently.

Schertz said her favorite part of SGA is the people. “We have a great group. We have a lot of fun together, and it is super fun to see people from all different backgrounds and places coming together around one table to just provide different points of view and interests to make business decisions,” Schertz said with a smile.

To contact Schertz or other SGA members, please email [email protected].