Umram Osambela is CSN’s new student body president
Umram Osambela wants to do big things. He wants to take nearly 40,000 people from virtually every background imaginable and make them believe.
He wants them to believe in the value of a place. In the value of belonging.
This, uniting the students, will be his main goal as the new student body president at the College of Southern Nevada.
“CSN changed everything for me,” he said.
At CSN, there is no such thing as a typical student, and Umram (that’s pronounced Oom-rum, by the way) shows why. Like almost half of CSN’s students, he is over 25 years of age. He’s a former boxing champion, a former semi-pro soccer player, a former business owner, and, perhaps, a future lawyer.
But for now, he’s focusing on CSN.
Umram was born in California, but he moved to Reno as a toddler and to Las Vegas before he started kindergarten. Like many families, his moved here for economic opportunity.
He went to Valley High School, and later transferred to CSN High School. CSN HS is a partnership between the college and the Clark County School District. Students can earn high school and college credits at the same time, and they’re exposed to a college atmosphere on one of our campuses.
Osambela said his time at CSN HS exposed him to an academic world he isn’t sure he would have found elsewhere. “It really gave me the desire to go forward,” he said.
But after he finished, he had a critical choice to make: Go on to college, or pursue his dream of opening his own business.
He chose to open his own car dealership at age 19. All the while, he was involved in Golden Gloves boxing, where he became Nevada state champion. He also played for the Las Vegas Strikers, a now-defunct semi-pro soccer team.
He sold his business, though, and decided he wanted more academics in his life. CSN was an easy choice for him.
He is majoring in business and hopes to graduate this spring. After that, maybe a finance degree, and then maybe law school. He isn’t sure yet if he wants to practice law, go into business or get into politics.
That last one is a relatively new aspiration for him. It started when he got involved in CSN’s student government.
Umram said that happened after he met two student senators and became intrigued. He decided to run for office himself.
Now that he’s the student president, he has plans. He said his main goal is to get the student body more involved. He wants to create a feeling of tradition and belonging among students, he said.
To help that along, he hopes to hold welcome back events near the beginning of the spring semester. They could include a dunk tank, or maybe a rock climbing apparatus. He said there is even talk of creating something like a prom, or a homecoming event. Whatever it takes to get students more involved in their school.
Because CSN is here for the students, after all.