ASUU Science Representative Sophia Perez
August 24, 2026
The Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) is the official student government, composed of elected student leaders who represent and advocate on behalf of the student body.
Structured similarly to the U.S. government, ASUU includes executive, legislative, and judicial branches that work together to provide student resources, host events and programs, and serve as a liaison between students and University administration. All enrolled students are automatically members of ASUU.
This year's representatives from the College of Science includes Sophia Perez.
Major: Honors Chemistry w/ an emphasis in Biology
Coming from out of state and being a first-generation student, my biggest concern on campus was trying to find my community. Even though I struggled at the beginning, after being admitted into the ACCESS Scholars Program and joining the Science Ambassador team, I was able to find the people who made me feel more than welcome. I decided I wanted to give back to the college by representing the science student body and making an impact outside of the classroom and the lab.
Before starting college, I did not even know that research was an option for me. Little did I know it would become such an integral part of my life and my future career goals. Since then, my goal for the Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) has been to focus on making research opportunities more accessible and open to students from every walk of life by funding and managing the annual College of Science student research symposium. Seeing how important science research is to not only current students but also to prospective scientists motivates me to keep advocating for them.
As a student representative for the College of Science, I act as a voice for the entire college and have a voting seat where I discuss and make decisions on ideas and bills that come our way. These bills can range from simple student government constitutional changes to voting on student initiatives such as implementing paper towel-free hand dryers on campus. Additionally, I also have the power to write and sponsor bills for initiatives I am passionate about.
I have been interested in science ever since my early high school years. However, I would never have expected to become a chemistry major, since the only chemistry class I took during high school was during COVID-19. What changed my perspective was my first-year gen chem 1 class, where my professor made me fall in love with the subject. Since then, I’ve continued taking chemistry classes and never looked back.
The College of Science is unique in that it truly feels like a tight-knit community. Although we are anything but small, I have been able to make connections with people of other majors and years because I feel like many students within our college have a common goal of spreading our love for science.
I hope that with my work in ASUU, I can support incoming science students who were like me—confused, unknowing and scared.