Rachel’s Rose Cottage coffee shop is a quaint little building in the center of Guilford College’s campus. Dark green ivy climbs its trellises next to rose bushes lining the building’s cream exterior. The inside is dim, but homey, always smelling like fresh muffins and brewing coffee, with chocolate-colored wood floors and benches.
A Guilford student walks into the cottage, high-fiving Jacob Mitchell, because Mitchell is not only known by almost all the 1,429 students on campus, but he also makes an effort to know them.
Nadeem Nasereddin, treasurer of the Guilford Student Body Association and Mitchell’s roommate, has collaborated closely with him to boost student engagement. Nasereddin describes Mitchell as a dedicated individual, saying, “I think he’s really caring.”
With his denim jeans, baseball cap and tall build, Mitchell blends in with the many seniors who make up Guilford’s student body. His active engagement with the people around him, however, sets him apart from the rest of his senior class.
Graduating simultaneously from Surry Central High School and Surry Community College in Dobson, N.C. with enough credits to be a junior, Mitchell excelled as a student before he came to Guilford, and as a freshman, he used this experience to apply, and get, the position of Inter-Club Council Chair, or ICC.
“I saw all the things that I thought could be improved with student life on campus, and I saw the opportunity to apply,” he said.
He has been at work improving students’ experiences and opportunities on campus ever since. Going from ICC chair to Guilford Student Body Association (GSBA) president, Mitchell is in a prime position to carry out beneficial change. Many mistakes and failures accompanied Mitchell’s efforts to increase club engagement, and he thinks clubs are essential to a good college experience.
“They make it as good as it can be,” he said. “They make it as bad as it can be. Like, they have a lot of power in that.” So, he set a goal to help those clubs be better to make the school its very best.
One of his first attempts to increase engagement was what he describes as a point system: incentivize clubs with a competitive environment. That same competition which pushed for participation pushed away collaboration.
This point system was deemed a mistake, but not a failure.
“You don’t eliminate it,” Mitchell said. “You take what was good out of it and turn it into something else.” According to Mitchell, during his time working for the ICC at Guilford, three clubs were started and overall students are showing more initiative for their passions.
“Having more students just care, that’s really my big thing,” Mitchell said. Quake the Vote is one thing he pointed to as a success. Students cared. They came together and acted on their passion. An organized group of students, a club, formed.
Passion — a word that Mitchell uses often.
“Go for what you’re passionate about,” he says. At Guilford, a student has multiple, accessible routes which they can travel to chase their dreams. The opportunities it possesses are part of Mitchell’s reasons for adoring Guilford.
Any Guilford student can start their own club, an ability that is rare among colleges. The 32-plus clubs are part of the college community, right next to athletics and academics.
“I also love how quickly you can engage with the community, and I love that community is valued here to go and engage with people who share passion,” Mitchell said.
His dedication to the people around him is seen through more than a high-five in a coffee shop. He genuinely interacts with other students, cares for the college, and wants his fellow students to cling to and act on their personal cares.
Mitchell’s passion envelopes his college, but it extends past the campus, past the college with its clubs, past its students and past his major. It includes his family, religion and commitment to be true to himself.
