Ross Lordo’s favorite moments are when he passes students on USC’s campus who had him as a tour guide.
“When you have people come up to you and say … ‘You’re the reason I’m here,’ I think that really sets in deep,” Lordo said.
As a University Ambassador, he works to create a relationship between prospective students and the university. Now that he’s been elected the next student body president, Lordo will be representing the relationship between students and the administration. And he has plans for how to improve that relationship, including a seat for the student body president on the board of trustees.
More than that, though, he wants to improve the relationship between Student Government and the USC population.
“I want students to see me as just one of them,” Lordo said. “I want to be the student body president that is relatable and approachable.”
Lordo grew up in Fort Mill, South Carolina, coming to football, basketball and baseball games at USC. Both his parents went here, and they raised him as a Gamecocks fan.
“It’s kind of cool when you grow up idolizing the university to be Student Body President,” Lordo said.
But he didn’t originally plan to follow in his parents’ footsteps and come to USC. He was determined to forge his own path and toured more than 15 universities. After all the visits, though, he decided that the culture and academic opportunities at USC were too good to pass up.
He’s been involved in Student Government before even arriving for classes through the Pillars program, which he served as the director of last summer. The list of his activities has only grown in the semesters since: U101 peer leader, Sodexo student board, medical fraternity, student body vice president.
On top of all his extracurriculars, Lordo maintains a pre-med schedule with his public health major. He’s hoping to hear back this spring from USC-Greenville’s medical school through an early admission program.
And while his joint interests in SG and medicine might seem an odd match, Lordo’s overarching interest is in being able to change people’s lives. During his undergraduate career, he’s hoping to change lives through advocacy. As a neonatologist or pediatrician, he’ll be working more hands-on.
“The thing that’s really drawn me is the patient interaction, the stories that you hear, the relationships that you see the doctors make with patients,” he said.
And because Lordo isn’t interested in going into politics, he hopes to bring a more grounded and diverse perspective to the position.
"Just because you’re a biology major doesn't mean you’re meant to only do things in your major,” he said. “At the end of the day, they all come together.”
This broad approach means he doesn’t have much free time.
“You have to make the decision that your college experience might be a little different than everyone else’s,” he said.
But working so much is worth it, he said, when you’re working for something you care about. He’s excited to move past being Student Body Vice President and on to working on achieving his platform.
"I hope I’m tired by this time next year,” Lordo said. “I think if you’re not tired by the end of it you didn’t do the job well enough.”
Through his time as president, he hopes to prove that Student Government does actually matter, something he said his predecessor, Michael Parks, has done a good job of starting. While he has short-term goals, he also hopes to be seeing his legacy on campus for many years to come.
“I hope that my impact is that we’ll have a new student union in 10 years,” he said.