Angie Cooksy: 0:15

Welcome back to the Bradley University Podcast. We are kicking off the 2025-2026 academic school year, and I'm so excited to be back.

Ben Jedd: 0:23

I am so excited to be back too, Angie.

Angie Cooksy: 0:26

I just had my first class. Uh, I get to teach now, and so I actually had my second class today and we met outside and it was fabulous.

Ben Jedd: 0:33

You're teaching jazz clarinet. Is that correct?

Angie Cooksy: 0:37

Uh well, they did not ask me to teach that this year, but they did let me teach EHS 120, which is the intro to Bradley Experience class, which I am having so much fun with.

Ben Jedd: 0:46

That's awesome.

Angie Cooksy: 0:47

So if you have not tuned in before, this is the Bradley University Podcast where we meet with awesome people in and around Bradley's community to share the stories that are happening each and every day here on campus. We record in Hilltop Studios, which is located in the lower level of University Hall. If you've never had a chance to come down here and check it out, it is a premiere space for our students and our faculty and our staff to have access to the technology of today, which is really podcast planned.

Ben Jedd: 1:14

Yeah, or I know our music students use it to record music. I mean, it's it's an awesome studio. It's really cool.

Angie Cooksy: 1:20

It is really cool. Um, and it's one of the things that we get to do every week, which is awesome. Uh so today we have our first student on the show, Ben.

Ben Jedd: 1:28

I know.

Angie Cooksy: 1:28

I'm so excited.

Ben Jedd: 1:29

I I booked it.

Angie Cooksy: 1:32

That that is a factually true statement. Um, so joining us today is Al Cuizon, uh, who is the student body president, and he is uh literally all over everywhere.

Al Cuizon: 1:45

Yeah, more or less.

Angie Cooksy: 1:46

Yes. So Al, let's get started with a little bit about your background, your journey to Bradley, um, and how you landed in the seat you're sitting in today.

Al Cuizon: 1:53

Yeah, I'm happy to be here. I'm glad to, you know, break the ground with being the first student on this podcast. Um, but yeah, my name is Al Cuisone Jr. and I'm happy to be here.

Angie Cooksy: 2:03

Awesome. Well, what we do on the show is give people an opportunity to share a little bit about themselves. It's really sort of a podcast highlight rule highlight reel of who you are and your journey to here and um you know insights that you want to share. So let's jump right in with a little bit about yourself, your background, and how you landed here at Bradley.

Al Cuizon: 2:23

100%. Yeah, absolutely. So for me, my Bradley journey started way before I even thought about college. Um in sixth grade. I wrote a paper about higher education and like where I see myself in the next like, you know, into my adult years. And I think for me, um, when I was in middle school and elementary school here in Peoria, um, I started off in, you know, primarily low-income schools and institutions. I went to Sterling Middle School and was on my way to Peoria Central. And for me, education was not in the foresight of my brain. It was just about survival. Um in some of these institutions, there's a lot of you know, violence and also just different perceptions of what education is and not really a focus on true learning. So when I got to college, um I really am really focusing on advocating for those students that are experiencing the same thing. So yeah.

Ben Jedd: 3:14

That's awesome. Um, so you are student senate president at Bradley University. Yes, I am. Um what kind of drove you to that and and what are you most excited about and looking forward to for this school year?

Al Cuizon: 3:30

Oh man, where do I start? Um so for me, I actually wasn't thinking about running for student body president. Um it was just brought up to me by someone who thought I'd be a great competitor. And I was like, Oh, why did you think that? And he was like, Well, you're very well connected, you're homegrown. Um, I've been raised here in Peoria ever since I was three years old. Went to school here, did middle school, high school, and college the majority of my life here. And and now, um, when they came up to me and was like, hey, um, are you gonna be running for soon body president? I was like, I was actually planning on running for the Speaker of the Assembly because it was my first year here last year, um, because I'm a transfer student from Illinois Central College, the local community college here where I also did student government there. And um when it was brought up to me, we negotiated terms, they went on my ticket and we ran together um full force, yeah. And then when I became student body president, I made it my obligation to focus on the centralization of the student voices. Um and things like this, being the first student on the podcast kind of highlights that.

Ben Jedd: 4:30

So so when you talk about centralization of student voices, can you what does that mean to you?

Al Cuizon: 4:36

Yes, so historically, not just here at Bradley, but in any areas of advocacy, whether it be here in the city or at the national level, there's always been this philosophy of siloism or or echo chambers. Each interest group sticks to their own bubble. And I think it's more prominent here than ever. Um in something that we're we're working on neutralizing. So um, like historically, it's been Student Senate sticking to Student Senate, fraternities and sororities sticking to fraternities and sororities, um, Greek life and like multicultural organizations sticking to themselves. And there has been this issue of communication between who is truly advocating for the students and how are we going to get initiatives built up to help not just leverage and better the experience for students here on campus, but help the administration develop the identity of what Bradley University is.

Angie Cooksy: 5:24

You mentioned advocacy, and I I'm pretty sure that you actually had the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. this summer and meet with other student body presidents or student government leaders. What did you learn from that experience and what was that like for you?

Al Cuizon: 5:36

Yeah, so um I've been to DC twice um as student body president in the summer. And first time I went there, it was to advocate for just students nationally, not as student body president. So I met with students that are going into different internship programs like TFAS and other things, contributing to student advocacy as a whole and also government efficiency. Um but the second time I went there, I met with uh 200 other student body presidents and executive officers that are leading the charge in student advocacy across the nation in multiple universities, ranging from public and private universities to the top 20, like Harvard, Duke, Notre, Notre Dame. And what I learned was that education is the same everywhere. Leadership is the same everywhere. It's just based upon the mentalities of the students and also how we, the student leadership, help influence those students to help elevate the next generation of college students that are coming in, not just within their independent campus, but across the nation. So this has led us to develop and Bradley to take the charge on this newly founded organization called the National Association for Student Government Presidents. And as of September 1st, I am the executive chair for the NASGP, and in turn, making Bradley the forefront leader in student advocacy across the board.

Angie Cooksy: 6:45

That's so cool. And it wouldn't be a higher ed organization if it wasn't an acronym. So I'm glad that we have that.

Al Cuizon: 6:51

Yeah, that's right.

Angie Cooksy: 6:52

I we have a lot of other questions, but I wanted to go back to the question that Ben asked a little bit ago because I think it's so important. He asked what you're looking forward to most in this school year, and I don't want that to get lost in all the other things that you're doing. What are you excited about this show?

Al Cuizon: 7:04

Yeah, um, along with all the initiatives that we're doing, just meeting new people in the interest groups here, um, there's obviously a bunch of different interest groups that I can't reach because of my bandwidth. But with the expansion of our student government and also the increased interest in actual advocacy on campus, I'm happy to meet different people, ranging from Greek life all the way to miscellaneous things. Like even I would love to meet anime club people. But if anything, just meeting new people within my last year and then moving forward and taking on the skills and the attributes that I've attributed I've gained here at Bradley to potentially grad school and law school. So yeah.

Ben Jedd: 7:41

That's exciting. Um so you're a transfer student. Yes. Um can you talk about the experience as a transfer student and how you kind of I mean you you moved into Bradley very quickly. Like it was, it was, it seemed like a pretty at least from the outside looking in, it seems like you adapted well to the Bradley experience.

Al Cuizon: 8:05

I would like to think so.

Ben Jedd: 8:06

Um so uh can you provide basically what that experience was like and any tips you have for other transfer students?

Al Cuizon: 8:13

100%. Yeah. Um one thing I will say is that whenever you are a transfer student, there will be that level of imposter syndrome. I know for me, when I was actually planning on going to the top 20 schools like Harvard and Yale and all those schools after ICC with Bradley in mind as well. But um one thing that I gained from my experience from going to community college to university is that as long as you have that onward mentality and keeping your mind open to new experiences, the transition from a community college to a four-year institution that is massively, well, bigger and also has more resources, arguably, than the community college, um, as long as you understand where you where you fall and also keep your mind open to different things, you will transition seamlessly. Keeping an open mind is the key here. And um, for advice towards other transfer students is connect with people while you're in uh community college. Um when I my first actual Bradley interaction when I was at Illinois Central College was my ICC business advisor, Jennifer Spangler, who has done work with Bradley before, I think, and is still at Illinois Central College. Um she forwarded me to um a speaker event where the founder of Hydro Flask was. And then I went over there literally with no credibility and and no student ID, just trying to sneak my way into different buildings on campus. And I was like, wow, this is actually intuitive. And I met some some some key high-profile friends that I have now, like Cushy Shaw, Brandon Johnson, who's the founder of Shothawk, um, which is a startup that focuses on active shooter prevention technology for schools and at any institution for that matter, actually, I've built from that one interaction. Um and then now that has accumulated throughout my time, not just in education, but throughout my time in advocacy, because of the connections I've built here and from taking the initiatives, uh the taking the initiative to actually be a part of something um like Bradley while I was still in community college.

Angie Cooksy: 10:13

I think it really speaks to the power of of showing up. Like that's awesome.

Al Cuizon: 10:18

Yeah, and it's not even just showing up, actually. It's it's just thinking that, you know, there's so much opportunity, having that like opportunist mentality of, oh, what can I gain from this? Not like in a self-interest perspective, but like trying to, you know, elevate my thinking and my learning at the same time because it's not just the classroom where you learn, it's the people that you interact with on a daily basis.

Ben Jedd: 10:39

You are taking advantage of all of the experiences around you.

Al Cuizon: 10:44

I sure hope so.

Ben Jedd: 10:45

No, I mean that's that's awesome.

Angie Cooksy: 10:46

So one of the things that we like to highlight on the show are really those personalized experiences. And um, you have a unique view on campus because not only do you have your experiences, but you are interacting with so many students on a daily basis, and you've talked a lot today about advocacy and what that looks like. Um, can you share a little bit about maybe a student story or your story that you think is really sort of that quintessential Bradley moment for you that that you've witnessed or been a part of?

Al Cuizon: 11:13

Wow. Oh my goodness. Uh there's a lot that I can speak on. Because there's been many experiences I've had with fellow students, especially not just during the summer, but literally in these past five days that we've been in session. Um I did the freshman convocation the day before um the start of classes. And this has been the first time that the Student Senate and the Bradley University have posted about the freshman convocation from the Student Senate perspective. Um and this is also the first time I feel like that students have come up to student leadership and asked, wow, or said that this speech, this these words that you spoke to us has really impacted us and changed my viewpoint about what it means to be an incoming Bradley student. The limit there are no limitations. The sky is the limit. And being a student here at Bradley should be about connectivity and initiative. And, you know, as with those experiences, I had a I had a student that came up to me, a freshman student, I think a couple days after the convocation. He was like, wow, oh my gosh, you are the guy that I keep seeing on the website, on the billboards and spoke at freshman convocation. He was like, I I can you give me some advice about how to tackle classes, um, how to what clubs to join, what organizations to be part of, how to get into government, how to advocate, how what workouts should I do at the gym, things like that, because that goes towards the quality of the student experience that we really need to focus on, not just from the administrative perspective, but also within student leadership. Because we are like I keep saying this, and I said this at uh uh when the scout interviewed me, and I'll say this again. The institution does not make the student, the students make the institution. And I feel like historically, and this can apply to any institution, that historically the students have viewed and been very codependent, the general body of students at least, have been very codependent on the institution to mold them. That should not be the perspective that we, the student body, should be focusing on. We should be focusing on how we can help benefit and develop the institution as a whole, in turn helping bring in new prospective students.

Ben Jedd: 13:13

So that's awesome. Um so what's something people may not know about you, Al, or your Bradley experience?

Al Cuizon: 13:23

So for me, uh I'm gonna break this up into two parts. My like me personally and my Bradley experience. Um so for me, I'm very faith-driven. Um, I don't spend a whole lot of time in the student senate office because my perspective on policy should not just be about, you know, the specific interests of one group or the specific interests of just student government. And that applies into potentially my future political career if I do decide to pursue that. For me, my faith has been a centralization to my entire mission because I can't rely on myself for everything. And um, not saying that like people that aren't of the faith don't have a voice. Everyone has a voice, but for me, that has what has kept me grounded, especially through some adversities I've been through throughout my school journey as a student as a whole and potentially going to be a thought leader in the future within any industry. For me, I was not that star student. I was actually one of the lowest performing students from you know second grade to eighth grade, and then finally got my act together in high school when I joined up for the Marine Corps junior ROTC program, where we were number one in the region, let alone number one in the nation, and has really built up my leadership skills. When I was in second grade to eighth grade, I was in detention all the time. I think I said this in my convocation speech. I was estimated 300 plus detentions throughout that time period of second grade to eighth grade. A lot of talking and behavioral issues and trying to figure out how to interact with people, and um arguably was perceived as a bad student. Um teachers would tell my parents that, you know, he needs some special treatment, he needs to take medicine or whatever, like third-party solutions. But for me, it was really just about redefining how I thought and my perspective on not just school, but life as a whole. Because everything that we're learning here, not just at Bradley, but what throughout your entire career as a student into your adult life, is about redefining your life as a whole. What does it mean to be a civil servant? What does it mean to be serving your community? What does it mean to go out there and connect with other students and other people that can help elevate you and your position here and redefining you yourself, your definition of success is. Oh man, so I would probably say at the beginning of that project that I would have never imagined I'd be in the position I am now, let alone have the amount of influence I have now, not just on Bradley's campus, but throughout the country now. We're breaking into a new era of what it means to be a student, let alone being a student advocate. And I would really focus on highlighting that and how if you have faith, not just within your religion, but within yourself, you can accomplish anything.

Ben Jedd: 16:22

I love that.

Al Cuizon: 16:23

There is no limit to what you can do, not just as a student, but just as a person. And I think we as students forget that we are also people too. It's not just about the grades and about the classes. Yes, it is a major factor of going to class and not skipping class. But you can only like if you're just there because your motivation is to get an A, because that's how I was before when I was in grade school. My parents would get mad at me for having a C. And I'm like, dang, so all I have to do now is just get an A and make sure that I'm up on the board. But that is not a fulfilling life. Let alone if you were doing that in college and your perspective is the same way as it was in elementary school, there are some things that you may need to improve on. And I have things to improve on as well, too, because we are imperfect. Um, but it just goes to show that you know you just really have to continue striving for more and view class and view school from a different lens, not just about going to class and going through the motions. But this is something I can actually learn that can help elevate society. Redefining what your why is and your mission is is what leads to true success within any industry.

Angie Cooksy: 17:25

That's great. Um, one of the things that we wrap up every show with is uh a question that puts everybody on the spot, and we usually get the same reaction initially to the question. Um, but we talk a lot about the people making Radley special. And so what are you unapologetically exceptional at, Al?

Al Cuizon: 17:42

Oh wow. I think to answer that, wow, I have to really think about that one. Because there's so many traits. Yeah. I think what an unapologetic trait of mine is that has helped me get to the point that I'm at now is being able to speak up and meet new people. Um I think, especially now in this era of society, people are just afraid because of like what people may think or if they're ready or not, or you know, if this is even the right fit fit for them or not. And something that I said in my speech is you will never feel ready and you will always doubt yourself. But as long as you continue moving forward, you you can accomplish anything. And also seeking help. Yeah, being just taking the initiative to go and be proactive and seek out help and solutions to problems that you are seeing is probably what I feel like is an unappointed trait for me that has not just made me arguably successful here at Bradley, but within all the accomplishments that I've achieved in the city, the state, and the country. That's awesome.

Ben Jedd: 18:44

Uh well, thank you so much, Al, for taking the time to talk to us today. I really appreciate it.

Al Cuizon: 18:48

No, of course, thank you for having me. And and one thing I would like to leave for any incoming student or current student here at Bradley is continue fighting for what you believe in because student government is not just a club. It's not just a glor and it's not just a glorified high school student council like you've probably encountered in the past. It is truly a place where you can, you know, cultivate ideas, develop initiatives, and pass up to people that can develop change. And you, you, the student, are the major stakeholders. Take advantage of that change, and you will be successful within any industry.

Angie Cooksy: 19:18

That's really powerful. And uh as we wrap up today, as always, we shoot in Hilltop Studios in the lower level of university hall. Al, thank you so much for joining us.

Al Cuizon: 19:28

No, of course. And if any student wants to get in contact with me, uh my Instagram handle is at AlQuizone Junior. You'll probably see it on like Instagram stories or just look at the billboard and just be like, oh, we're gonna start putting your Instagram on the billboard.

Angie Cooksy: 19:40

Maybe we'll put a note for a bit. Well, thank you, Al. It was always it's so nice to get to chat with you and spend a little bit more time getting to know you. And uh we look forward to having many more students on the show as we move forward.

Al Cuizon: 19:52

Yeah, the door is open for student government and for students to be a part of things like this. So always yeah.

Angie Cooksy: 19:57

Uh see everybody next time. Uh, this is the Bradley. University podcast wrapping up.