Well-liked, service-oriented and with a sparkling personality, this week’s featured leader is none other than…Aaron Fisher!
A native of the country’s City of Brotherly Love, Fisher is a graduate of Philadelphia’s Central High School. Although one may be led to believe that he came out the womb seeking to get involved in any and every activity, Fisher admits that his years before entering SJU were a bit barren and ultimately forgettable.
“To tell you the truth, I didn’t really do much in high school. High school was so long ago. I really was just a student, but I worked a lot in high school. I got a job when I was really young.”
Holding such positions as an insurance agency’s office assistant, Fisher got an introduction to work experience in the “real world” at the age of 13. Although it seems like long ago, he values the many opportunities he was given in his early teen years. Fisher gained a tremendous amount of insight about the wheelings and dealings of the working world.
“It was my first sense of responsibility. I felt like such a grown-up because I was doing something like that while everyone else was working at McDonald’s or the Gap. You learn so much more. I learned how to work with people on a different level.”
But Fisher was more than a member of the teenage working class; he was also an avid community servant. First becoming involved in service work to “fulfill his requirements” in high school, Fisher began to volunteer more in his community because it was something different that he truly began to enjoy. One activity that he looks back on favorably is his volunteering at a local museum, giving tours on the different traveling exhibits.
Upon graduation, Fisher parlayed his handful of high school activities into an influential existence at St. John’s University. His campus involvements include the Campus Life Advisory Group (C.L.A.G.); student assistant in the Department of Student Life; co-chair for the Committee of African Heritage Month; treasurer for Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization; and president of Haraya, the Pan-African Students’ Coalition, one of his most beloved commitments.
Crediting his participation with the club to other student leaders like George Coleman, Brad Griffith and Dorian Fuller, Fisher has been involved with Haraya since his sophomore year. He repeatedly uses the word ‘family’ when describing one of SJU’s most successful organizations, for it is there that he feels the most at home and has made lifelong connections with its members.
“I love it. I couldn’t imagine being at St. John’s without being a part of something like Haraya. I had no family up here, and Haraya became my family. A lot of people within the organization I call my brothers and my sisters.”
As hard as it will be for him to leave behind his “brothers and sisters,” Fisher looks forward to graduating this spring-no matter how uncertain the paths of his future currently appear.
He plans to take a semester off and enter graduate school next January, possibly going for a degree in the field of communications. But he does not plan to stop there.
“This is my ultimate plan: I want to become an entertainment lawyer, but I really don’t know the field, and it’s fairly new in law school. So, I’m giving it time to develop more, trying to learn a little bit about the entertainment industry,” he said. “My passion is music, and I really want to work for a record label. I’m not looking for money right now, just the experience and just working with something that I love so much. Music is something that I really like.”
