Jens Sutmoller: skier turned ASG president

BY PATRICK DEIGNAN
NOV. 18, 2007

Jens Sutmöller’s high school experience was drastically different than most teens. Instead of waking up early each day to catch the school bus, Sutmöller climbed out of bed and into his snow skis to navigate the winding slopes of mountainous Vermont. After school he didn’t return to his parents’ house, but instead slept on a mattress on the floor of his ski coach’s attic. His weekends were not spent chilling—but they were sometimes spent in Chile competing in international junior ski races. Since then, Sutmöller has moved back to Ohio, trading his skis for a suit and tie which he regularly wears as Miami University’s student body president.

A native of Westerville, Ohio, Sutmöller was certainly not born adjacent to any ski resorts. But when he was only 2 years old, Sutmöller and his family moved to upstate New York, a more skier-friendly region.

His father, Nico, has 45 years or skiing experience while his mother, Beckie, worked as a ski instructor. They were both members of the Columbus Ski Club where his father served as the club’s president.

“From the time he was conceived we knew he was going to be a skier,” said Mrs. Sutmöller. “It was inherent that he skied.”

And ski he did. Sutmöller soon became an avid skier, eventually enrolling in Okemo Mountain School in Ludlow, Vt., at the age of 14.

Okemo is a boarding school where competitive child skiers can go to perfect their skills on the slopes. Not only do Okemo students practice their skills, but they also compete in state, national, and even international competitions. But the school is not all fun and games.

“Academics are still a priority during the intense full time training and competing,” according to the Okemo Mountain School website.

From 8th grade through his sophomore year in high school, Sutmöller spent a month away from home each winter skiing and learning at Okemo.

“It was hard having him away from home, but he had been away to a ski camp in Oregon before so I was used to it,” Mrs. Sutmöller said.

To cut costs, Sutmöller took up residence in the attic of his ski coach, Mark Stuart.

“It wasn’t much but it gave me the opportunity to get a good education and work on my ski techniques,” Sutmöller said.

As a student at Okemo, Sutmöller had the opportunity to travel and compete around the world, skiing in junior events in the United States, Canada and Chile. But earning a spot skiing in these events was not easy, as Okemo students keep a very rigorous training and academic schedule.

Sutmöller spent almost every day for three years following the same routine. He and the other Okemo students would wake up before dawn for a 6 a.m. breakfast. Soon after, they would hit the slopes, spending the remainder of the morning skiing. After a noontime lunch and a vigorous workout, the students would attend school from about 2 p.m. until almost 8. After each exhausting day, Sutmöller would climb the narrow steps lined with old wooden skis to his attic bedroom. Settling down onto his floor mattress, he would sleep and then start the cycle over again.

“That’s where I get a lot of my values…from the hard work I put in there,” Sutmöller said.

His last competitive race was at Perfect North, a Cincinnati area ski hill located in Lawrenceburg, Ind. He went out in style, winning the race and earning the title of “King of the Hill.” But since then, Sutmöller has given up competitive skiing, at least for the time being.

“The skis went on eBay as soon as I came to Ohio,” Sutmöller said. “But the average age of professional skiers is around 25 or 30, so there’s still some semblance of an opportunity in the future.”

At the age of 22, skiing is no longer a major part of Sutmöller’s life. Instead, he fills his time representing Miami’s 14,000-plus undergraduate students as president of Associated Student Government (ASG).

Often dressed in a dark-colored suit, Sutmöller is just shy of 6 feet tall with a head of thick blond hair and eyes the color of the ice and snow he used to ski on. But how does one go from competitive skiing to college politics? Oddly enough, the answer lies in a dentist’s office.

“Coming to Miami, I adamantly wanted to become a dentist,” Sutmöller said. “I enrolled as a microbiology major.”

But after securing an internship at a nearby dentist’s office, Sutmöller found himself more interested in world events than dental health, as he methodically read each and every news magazine in the dentist’s waiting room.

“I read Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report cover to cover,” he said.

Sutmöller dropped his internship at the dentist’s office and instead landed an internship with Ohio State Sen. Mark Mallory who is now mayor of Cincinnati.

“I went to many different events with him,” Sutmöller said. “It wasn’t just making copies.”

Sutmöller soon realized his real interest lay in politics and world affairs, not dentistry. Soon after, he changed his major from microbiology to political science with minors in both history and economics.

“Jens saw that people need leadership,” Mrs. Sutmöller said. “They need people to listen to them and to guide them.”

By 2004, it was time for Sutmöller to play the role of politician. After reading ASG’s bylaws, Sutmöller decided to become involved, earning a spot as a senator representing Miami’s largest residence hall, Morris Hall.

Sutmöller regards his first year as his hardest and busiest at Miami. It was also the year where he feels he had his greatest accomplishment. Sutmöller worked closely with Miami’s IT department to revamp the student information directory popularly referred to by Miami students as “stalker net.” The directory allows users to seek out personal information such as phone numbers, home addresses, and email addresses of Miami students.

“Before, anyone could go on and find student information like campus and home address without even being a student here,” Sutmöller said. “Now it makes you log on to find certain information. It really safeguards a lot of students.”

Sutmöller’s work earned him the “Senator of the Year” award. Considering he was only a first-year student, Sutmöller believes the hard work that earned him the award is his greatest accomplishment.

But his political thirst was still not quenched and the following year he signed up to be ASG’s Secretary of Academic Affairs where he worked on issues such as academic advising. During his junior year, Sutmöller again served as an ASG senator, only this time he represented students living off-campus. But his largest role was still yet to come.

“I wanted to be a senator all the way through,” Sutmöller said. “I never planned to be president.”

Planned or not, he ran for student body president in the spring of his junior year, beating out candidates Benjamin Alexander, Alex Cox, and Desmond Sumiya for the position.

Besides representing Miami’s undergraduates, Sutmöller must also manage ASG’s 12 Executive Cabinet members, which he sees as his greatest challenge.

“Never have I had to manage a group of 12 people, and a tough group of 12 people at that,” Sutmöller said. “I’ve had to step back a few times and analyze my approach toward the people that I work with.”

The responsibilities and commitments that come with the position wear him down from time to time.

“The only time I don’t wear the hat of student body president is when I walk into a classroom,” Sutmöller said.

Because he is a senior, Sutmöller has only one year to accomplish his many goals as president.

“There’s just not enough time,” Sutmöller said. “I’d give my right arm for another six hours most days. The fruits of labor are also way out there and the process is very slow.”

Regardless, Sutmöller doesn’t regret running for president.

“I love the position, but more importantly I love what I do more than I love the position,” Sutmöller said.

Despite his hectic schedule, Sutmöller’s close friend and ASG’s Secretary to the Executive Cabinet, Melonia Bennett, said that he doesn’t let the job run his life.

“He makes sure to make time for himself every day,” Bennett said. “He’s very schedule oriented.”

Sutmöller’s friend and ASG senator Seema Choudhary said that much of this personal time is spent exercising, whether it is hiking at Hueston Woods State Park or rock climbing at the university’s Recreation Center. He can even be seen riding his beat-up yellow mountain bike to and from class.

“He rides that bike everywhere,” said Choudhary.

His remaining time is largely spent with his girlfriend of more than one year, Jenni Kim. The two have known each other since their first year at Miami.

“We both lived in Morris Hall but we weren’t really friends, we were more like acquaintances,” Kim said.

But the two rekindled when Sutmöller’s roommate began dating Kim’s roommate. Now they are practically inseparable. Because both students are very busy during the day, they spend most of their time together during the evening.

“We don’t see each other much during the day,” Kim said. “He’s busy but I’m busy too.”

Like Sutmöller, Kim is a Miami senior set to graduate in May. She is a Spanish and psychology double major and plans on either moving to Spain to teach English or working for a collegiate study abroad program in the United States. But neither of the pair knows exactly what lies ahead in the future.

“It’s hard because we don’t know what we’ll be doing yet,” Kim said. “But right now we’re planning on making it work and staying together.”

It might seem impossible that one could find time to be student body president of a large university, spend time with a girlfriend, be a full time college student, a recreational rock climber and a mountain biker all at once, but a busy schedule suits Sutmöller just fine.

“I work best under pressure,” Sutmöller said. “When I was at ski school I always got my best grades during the winter season when I was skiing and didn’t have time to slack off.”

Pressure is something Sutmöller has plenty of these days. Filling any remaining spare time in his schedule is the monumental and often intimidating task of finding a job. While he is most interested in a job in communications, Sutmöller said he is “completely open to any opportunities.”

He has applied for jobs at the Clinton Foundation, the American Heart Association, Google, and others. However, because Sutmöller has family living on five continents, his job hunt is not bound by any nation’s borders. He has applied for jobs in Qatar, Singapore, London, Africa, and the United States.

“I’ve applied for jobs on four continents so far,” he said.

While there is not a specific job that Sutmöller is looking for, he wants a job where he can utilize his experiences in ASG.

“I’m looking for a job where I can work with a team generating collective ideas, both creative and innovative,” he said.

Sutmöller sees himself as a global citizen, much like his father who was born in Holland, lived in the Caribbean and Brazil, and attended boarding school in Switzerland. Similarly, he hopes to take advantage of the many global opportunities that are sure to arise, knowing that wherever he lives he will likely have family living in the same region.

Former Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Denny Roberts, worked with Sutmöller as adviser to ASG. He has seen Sutmöller in action and believes he has the unique qualities to make a great leader.

“Jens is a terrific young leader. He is humble, sincere, and can be trusted. These are traits that we would all hope we’d see in all leaders but, sadly, they are rare.”