GALLOWAY – Stephanie Ackerman credits her background here for the four really  great years that will be coming to an end this spring when she graduates from Rowan University at the end of her year as student body president.

“I had some really great teachers at Absegami,” Ackerman said. “They taught me life lessons at a young age that you normally don’t learn until you’re much older.”

She said her favorite teacher was Brian Wastell, world history teacher and school baseball coach.

She said guidance counselor Joe Monteleone was also an influence.

“He’s the epitome of a student-centered messenger,” she said. “He’s what being a teacher is all about.”

But she said the big reason she’s so self-assured as she runs Rowan’s student government goes back to her home life and parents Sherryl and Bill Ackerman.

“My parents exposed me to a lot of different things,” Ackerman said. “My dad was in politics. That shaped me into being strong willed. And I’m very opinionated.”

Her father was a Galloway councilman.

But she’s also like her mother.

“My mom was just the hardest worker I ever knew,” Ackerman said. “It was always, ‘Go the extra mile.’ She’s very social, talking to strangers. I’ve been very fortunate.”

Ackerman said she isn’t shy.

“People fascinate me,” she said. “Just talking to different people and hearing different points of view I get a better idea of what my opinions are.”

In addition to being Student Government Association president, she’s a member of the Mortarboard Senior Honor Society and Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization.

“Last year I was student government executive board recording secretary,” Ackerman said. “I was admissions ambassador – I gave tours to entice students to come to Rowan. I was executive vice president of student government.”

As a junior, she also served an internship with Strategic Billing Enterprise, a startup company at Rowan Technology Park in Glassboro.

“Last year I was very busy,” Ackerman said. “You get to know your limits.”

The 2008 Absegami High School graduate majors in business management and entrepreneurship and minors in journalism.

“Entrepreneurship is not necessarily because I want to start a business,” Ackerman said. “I just wanted that knowledge. I wanted to learn all aspects of business. And journalism: I always wanted to write. I used to write short stories just for fun.”

She said she’s taken a lot of courses that combine business and journalism, such as “Writing as Managers.”

“I have a big portfolio on how to write in the world of business,” Ackerman said. “I loved that course.”

Her Mondays are filled with office hours and government executive board meetings that run one to two hours. Every other Monday she meets with the student body Senate which includes representatives from more than 100 clubs. That’s another hour or two.

“And we have emergency meetings as needed,” she said. “There’s a three-day retreat here in the summer and a daylong retreat in the winter.”

Before her senior year, Ackerman said she played intramural soccer, basketball and volleyball.

“This year, nothing,” she said. “I’ve been too busy. I’m taking six courses just to graduate on time. I’m giving a commencement speech.”

She didn’t become active in student government until her sophomore year, Ackerman said.

“My first three positions were appointed by the 150-member Student Senate,” she said. “Then I became president, being elected by the entire student body. Three people ran; it was the first time in years it was that competitive.”

Is politics in her future?

“No way,” Ackerman said. “The stress of campaigning is over in my life.”