Aubrey Coleman owes his political career to an empty stomach.
In high school, Coleman's lunch period was the last of the school day, and by the time it rolled around, the cafeteria was nearly out of food to serve.
But Coleman had enough and decided to speak up.
"I said, 'We shouldn't have to take this. This isn't right,'" Coleman said to his friends at the lunchroom table.
That's when one friend turned around and said, "You know Aubrey, what are you going to do about it?"
With that, Coleman became a politician.
He ran for and won an executive position in his high school's SGA and, soon after the cafeteria situation began improving and continues to improve, Coleman said.
Coleman, a sophomore majoring in international business, is running for vice president of Academic Affairs.
Coleman said he formed his platform by talking to students.
"These aren't issues that I'm working on, these are issues that have come straight from the students' mouths," he said.
His platform includes improving textbook buyback prices, working to keep campus libraries open 24 hours, posting advising checklists online, better recruitment of minorities, revitalizing the SGA test bank, replacing Bamamail with Gmail and working to make sure the only work students have to do on Dead Week is studying and extra credit.
"I feel it is very unfair for students to pay $200 for a book and get two dollars back," he said.
He said the issue with campus libraries would progress gradually, keeping the smaller campus libraries open 24 hours to gauge how well it would work at Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library.
He said he carried the political success he had in high school over to his freshman year at the Capstone, becoming a member of the First Year Council and winning the First Year Councilman of the Year award.
Coleman currently serves as the SGA director of recruitment.
"[In many cases,] I'm the first face students see," Coleman said.
As director of recruitment, Coleman said he has worked on doing more to recruit minorities and better the minority retention rate as well as increase recruitment inside Tuscaloosa.
Coleman said he first thought about running for vice president of Academic Affairs over the Christmas break and was sure he would do so by the time the spring semester began.
He said he chose to run for this position because nearly all of the work he has done in the SGA has dealt with Academic Affairs.
Coleman said he believes he is the best candidate due to the preparation his major has given him and his experience within the SGA.
"When I say I'm the person of the people, I believe my core curriculum has prepared me to interact with students across the country and the world," Coleman said.
Coleman said he will be able to jump in and begin getting things accomplished on day one because he is already working on many issues within Academic Affairs in his current position.
Coleman said he is running on his experience and thinks it will help him in his campaign.
"I believe my experience is best suited for this job because I've learned [the SGA] from the ground up," he said.
Coleman said his campaign began coming together simply by word of mouth.
"As soon as I started telling people, people just started saying, 'I want to help you,'" he said.
Throughout his involvement in the SGA, Coleman said what has kept him going is working for students and making their voices heard at all levels within the SGA.
"I want students taken care of well academically and reach their successes so they can love the University as much as I do," Coleman said.
"I will continue to work, I will continue to press and I will not stop until I accomplish my goals," he said.
After college, Coleman said he wants to go to law school and become a corporate lawyer. As for politics, Coleman said he doesn't think it's possible to plan a career in the field.
"As far as politics, it's wherever the good Lord takes me," he said.
Coleman said overall, he wants students to know he is best suited to start working as an effective vice president on day one.
Or, according to Coleman, "before day one."
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