Nate Dobbels said he has always strived to better Iowa State and the lives of its students since the day he stepped foot on campus.

“It was never about me; it’s always been about Iowa State,” said the former Government of the Student Body Speaker of the Senate .

Drawn to Iowa State five years ago by the comfortable atmosphere and the feeling that Iowa State was a place where he could reach his full potential, Dobbels immediately began working for the good of Iowa State by joining Freshman Council, being a member of the President’s Leadership Class and becoming active through his dorm floor. He joined GSB as an Inter-Residence Hall Association senator in the spring of his freshman year.

Dobbels said he was not so sure initially about running for GSB his freshman year, but after being told by fellow students that he had potential to accomplish a lot, he jumped on board with the idea.

“Luke Roling and I used to joke around as freshmen about being vice president and president of GSB. We never would have imagined accomplishing that,” Dobbels said.

Two years later, Dobbels was elected vice president and Roling president of GSB. After four years of being on GSB, Dobbels had served on the Public Relations Committee, the Rules Committee, was the vice president and was the speaker of the senate.

During his years with GSB, Dobbels helped oversee the start of Cyclone Cinema, Sodas 4 Sobers and helped represent the student body on the state level.

When asked what would be his lasting impression, Dobbels said, “I want to be remembered for helping start Cyclone Cinema, being a person who made things happen and who left ISU better than what I found it.”

With the departure of Dobbels from GSB comes sophomore Spencer Hughes, sophomore in speech communication, who is to fill the speaker of the senate shoes that Dobbels wore this past semester.

“Dobbels has been an inspiration and mentor for me,” Hughes said “He was very approachable and made me feel comfortable as a freshman in GSB.”

One piece of advice Dobbels left for Hughes was, “never look back — always keep moving forward. You are always making an impact on ISU.”

Dobbels said he plans are to attend graduate school at the University of Northern Iowa next year for higher education and student affairs. Dobbels said his dream job would be to work for Iowa State some day.

“Some friends of mine joke that I’ll be the president of ISU some day,” Dobbels laughed.