I had the pleasure of meeting Aidan St. Germaine, FCRH ‘24, affectionately known as ”ASG”, at a mutual friend’s Walsh apartment before Thanksgiving break. We were all measuring our heights on a wall, and ASG’s pencil marking showed him to be 6’1. He seemed to be taller than this, and when I asked him about it, he attributed it to his long neck.

ASG is a sophomore hailing from Mendham, New Jersey. Born in California, he moved to the East Coast as an infant. Growing up, he spent his summers at his grandparents’ house on the Jersey Shore. There, he learned how to surf at the age of seven, one of his biggest passions to this day. In the winter, he loves to snowboard, especially in the Poconos.  ASG comes from a “big hockey family” — claiming he learned to walk and skate simultaneously. But, when he was diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder in elementary school, he was forced to quit playing. At this point, ASG started to dabble in other sports like gymnastics and Aikido.  ASG didn’t mind this; he’s a self-described “go with the flow type person.” And hockey didn’t disappear from his life altogether; he continued to play casually with friends (like on winter days when ponds would freeze over), and in high school, he played floor hockey in gym class. “It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but they treated it like the NHL,” he explained. “The guy who ran it, he had a whole bracket, he told everyone ‘only sign up for floor hockey if you’re gonna take it seriously.’ He filmed the games and would post the scores. And I had the title of the best floor hockey player in the school.”

 He never knew what career he wanted to pursue. However, with a CFO dad, one brother at Royal Bank of Canada and the other in commercial bank lending, he asked himself one question: “Well, why don’t I go into business?”. ASG figured out that he wanted to pursue a degree in marketing after taking some of the core classes in the Gabelli School of Business and attending seminars. There was one other component to his decision: his curiosity for “picking people’s minds and learning about what reaches people.” His mother is a psychologist, but he says he’d find listening to people talk about their problems all day difficult or emotionally draining. 

ASG is also passionate about marine biology. But one of his co-workers worked as a marine biologist full-time, and ASG realized that the job involved more paperwork and behind-the-scenes research than scuba diving and exploration. This wasn’t appealing to ASG, but he is now contemplating declaring a minor in environmental science in order to explore that passion. ASG was recently elected as a leader of the Fordham Climate Impact Initiative after one semester of being involved with the organization.  ASG also worked with the Community Service Agriculture team to set up a program that allowed people to sign up for biweekly fresh produce deliveries at Fordham. His official title is Climate Impact Fellow of the Social Innovation Collaboratory, and he is beyond excited to continue working to increase sustainability on campus.

Outside of his commendable environmental work, ASG can be found gaming with his home friends or decorating his room with bananas. Yes, ASG and his roommate, Quinn, literally decided on a banana-themed room in their Walsh apartment. “He said, ‘Why not bananas?’ and I thought, ‘You got a good point; bananas are pretty cool.’” So the pair took it upon themselves to buy banana string lights, a banana neon lamp and an 8×11 artwork of a banana to complete the project. This story is just one more instance of proof of ASG’s flexibility.   He doesn’t really believe in astrology, but I think his easy going nature can be attributed to the fact that he’s a Libra.

Two things are for sure when it comes to ASG: he will be successful no matter where he ends up, and his ability to turn his passions into accomplishments is a true asset.