Nadia Miller, campus sophomore and microbial biology major, is running for ASUC Senate.

Her platform is focused on fostering opportunities for pre-health majors, basic needs for all students and reproductive rights, Miller said. She added that these issues are intersectional at UC Berkeley and noted that campus has many related resources that must be made more accessible to students.

“Everyone has this preconceived or romanticized idea about Berkeley before they come here, and I personally thought that it would be this ultimate intersection of innovation, open-mindedness and communication,” Miller said. “Instead, when I got here, I saw that there was a disconnect between the needs of students and the resources we’re provided with.”

Miller said she is focused on destigmatizing conversations around reproductive rights and health, adding that in her family, these conversations were not had, leaving her to rely on information from her high school. She wants to make STI tests, pregnancy tests and contraceptives available for all students to access anonymously.

Furthermore, pre-health majors’ voices are not well represented in the ASUC, according to Miller, and these groups struggle with a lack of resources that leads to isolation and increased competition between pre-health majors.

Miller wants to provide transportation waivers for pre-med majors completing their residencies in other places, extend library and study space hours, increase access to drug testing resources and give students living off campus heaters and fans.

She also wants campus to work with pre-health test prep services to provide scholarships and discounts to students studying for the MCAT and other exams.

“We’ve accepted so many status quos here over the years and have kind of turned our problems into normalities,” Miller said. “I believe that with my experience and passion, I can create tangible change and I want to run to see that change come into fruition.”

Miller has spent two years working for the ASUC as a pre-health intern for Senator Muz Ahmad and a STEM opportunities associate for Senator Jason Dones in her first year. She is currently working as a director of diversity, equity and inclusion for Senator Tyler Mahomes and is also chief of staff for Senator Mahathi Kandimalla.

From her time in the ASUC, Miller said she has learned its structure, limitations and how funding works. She noted that she is hoping to run around the platform of “Miller makes moves” for tangible change as a senator.

“I really want my platform to be about tangible change,” Miller said. “It’s really easy to acknowledge and identify that problems exist, which we all have, but seeing that come into fruition and being able to achieve that tangible change is an entirely different story.”