The alarm buzzes; it’s 3 a.m., and the start of a typical day for 31-year-old Student Government Association President Olinda Ricard, business management senior and culinary arts graduate from Baton Rouge, begins. Not only is Ricard a non-traditional student, she is the first African-American female SGA president, a mother, a student employee in Auxiliary Services where she maintains the cleanliness of Family Housing, and she serves on various committees.

Ricard says she enjoys hard work and the pressure of deadlines.

“I thrive off having a lot on my plate and making every minute count,” Ricard says.

She says she feels great about being president and a non-traditional student, which she says shows other non-traditional students how to be active on campus.

As president Ricard says some of her duties include being the official supervisor of the SGA office, directing what the focus of new projects is going to be and acting as the main contact to the administration.

Ricard says her day usually begins at 3 a.m. when she does homework followed by preparing her son for school, and then she is off to class.

Ricard is a full-time student.

“I usually schedule classes after 10 a.m. so I can work in the SGA office in the morning,” Ricard says.

After class, Ricard says she usually has a meeting and on average attends four to five meetings a week.

She also meets with President Hulbert and the Council of Student Body Presidents of Louisiana monthly.

Ricard came to Nicholls in the spring of 2003 from the Kaila Culinary Arts Institute of Louisiana after its closing.

She chose Nicholls because she says she thought Thibodaux was a nice place to raise her family and also because of the culinary program offered at Nicholls.

Ricard graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts.

Having worked in management positions before, Ricard says she was always fascinated with solving problems, thus why she wanted to become SGA president.

When Ricard is not working in the SGA office, she is cooking for her family or helping her son with his homework. She then winds down in preparation for another full day.