Gwinnett Daily Post

LOS ANGELES -- At just 21 years old, Monish Tyagi is living the dream.

A movie buff with an interest in directing films, the 2008 Wesleyan graduate has spent the past several years as a student at the University of Southern California. Tyagi lives just a stone's throw from Hollywood.

But it's not all fun and games in Tinseltown. As student government president at the university, Tyagi governs 350 staff members, oversees a $1.8 million budget and is the chief liaison between students and administrators.

Tyagi, who has been president for a little more than a year, said he got the bug for politics as a high school student at Wesleyan School in Norcross.

As student government president at Wesleyan in his senior year, Tyagi learned he enjoyed "taking problems other people have chosen for you to take on...and taking care of them. It's a feeling of trust the students place in you, and that's a good feeling."

Choosing the University of Southern California had a little to do with his academic aspirations as well as his enthusiasm for making movies.

"When I was choosing colleges, I was interested in business and film," Tyagi said. "I made a lot of movies while I was at Wesleyan, and I wanted to keep doing that."

His film career continued at USC, as he and friends produced a rap video spoof of a Jay-Z song, "Peach State of Mind," as well as a film touting his student president candidacy.

Chad McDaniel, director of communications with Wesleyan School, said Tyagi's love of film was evident at the local school. "He produced a feature-length film while he was here," McDaniel said. "In everything he did here, He was a very creative student with a genuine thirst for knowledge."

McDaniel said he can imagine that Tyagi's charisma has helped him in his role as student government president at the university.

"He has the ability to connect to people and the willingness to listen," McDaniel said. "For most people, listening is an acquired trait. For Monish, it comes naturally. He loves to listen to others, and that's something that people love about him."

Even back in high school, McDaniel said Tyagi was "completely comfortable in his own skin, which is rare for a kid in high school. He's not afraid to be himself, and it's cool to see that in a high school student."

He hasn't yet decided on a career, but a job in politics isn't out of the question, Tyagi said.

"I've been able to see that in student government you can produce some pretty tangible changes," Tyagi said. "I enjoy that."