Caio Esmeraldi and Maria Julia Mussa Martins

Presidential candidate Caio Esmeraldi to the left and his running mate, Maria Julia Mussa Martins, to the right. ORACLE PHOTO/AUDREY KOCZANSKI

For Caio Esmeraldi and Maria Julia Mussa Martins, their Student Government campaign is built on friendship and trust as much as it is on policy.

Esmeraldi and Martins met at a party last year and later developed a close working relationship in SG — leading to their decision to run together for student body president and vice president, respectively. 

Esmeraldi, a 21-year-old junior psychology major, currently serves as student body vice president. Martins, a 20-year-old sophomore double-majoring in psychology and international studies, serves as a Tampa senator and policy committee vice chair.

“We are like the brain and the heart when we work together,” Martins said.

They said their roles in SG have helped them better understand the limits and possibilities realistically available to them.

Martins said this understanding of SG is important to running a campaign, as it shows they know what they are doing and will not have to learn from scratch.

“When you’re running, sometimes people promise things that aren’t possible,” she said. “You need to understand what that position is capable of.”

Esmeraldi said their campaign slogan, “a bolder USF,” builds on his prior platform with current student body president Sumit Jadhav.

The campaign focuses on three key ideas — better funding, better resources and stronger awareness of what SG does.

“We’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go,” Esmeraldi said.

Related: USF’s new president wants to position USF as a “model university” 

Esmeraldi added that a major goal of their campaign is to help students better understand what SG does and how it impacts campus life. 

“If you care about your student experience even a little, it’s important that you care about voting,” he said.

Despite the long hours that come with campaigning and SG work, both candidates said their motivation remains the same — serving students and making a positive impact on campus.

“We’ve been through a lot in student government,” Esmeraldi said. “But we chose to do this again because we know we can bring positive change.”

Along with their experience in SG, both candidates also share another commonality — their journey to USF began far from campus.

Esmeraldi said he grew up in Brazil and moved to the U.S. when he was 14. He attended high school in Celebration, Florida, and transferred to USF from the University of Central Florida last spring.

“I absolutely didn’t feel like I was at home [at UCF],” Esmeraldi said. “So I wanted to try something different and found USF here.”

Martins, who also grew up in Brazil, moved to the U.S. at 15, living in Pittsburgh and upstate New York before moving to Florida for college.

“One of my friends came to USF, and I visited her,” Martins said. “I absolutely fell in love. Everyone on campus was super nice, and there was a huge Brazilian community.”

Related: USF students fear loss of Latin American and Caribbean Scholarship after statewide repeal 

Esmeraldi said he initially joined SG to build a community at USF after transferring from UCF.

“Student government, as high stakes as it can feel sometimes, still boils down to building community and finding people,” he said.

But Esmeraldi’s connection to SG extends to his family. His older brother, Cesar Esmeraldi, served as student body president during the 2023-2024 academic year.

Martins said her involvement in SG started with a “long-standing interest” in representing students — something she first experienced in high school student council.

“I always wanted to represent the people around me and be their voice,” Martins said. “A lot of my friends didn’t even know what student government was or what resources it offered.”

That shared interest in listening to students is something both candidates said defines how they work together and why they ultimately decided to run on the same ticket.

“It made sense that I would want to do it with someone that I trust and that I’m very close friends with,” Esmeraldi said. “I have a lot of faith that she can do a good job.”

The two students, who have been in SG for roughly a year, said their experiences have shaped how they approach leadership — rooted in collaboration, transparency and accessibility.

Esmeraldi and Martins said this method has deepened their understanding of student needs while helping them develop into more proactive, solution-oriented leaders.

But beyond leadership and goals, the candidates said their personalities and strengths work hand in hand — with Martin leading outreach and connection, and Esmeraldi heading policy and internal operations.

Esmeraldi said Martins is decisive and strong in communicating her ideas while still remaining open to other perspectives.

“She’ll explain her opinion until people understand,” he said. “That’s something a lot of people lack.”

Martins said Esmeraldi’s patience and dedication stand out to her as a leader.

“When I joined SG, he spent a lot of time explaining the statutes and documents to me,” she said. “He would explain everything with so much calm and patience. I think that’s really important in a leader.”

Related: USF Student Government gubernatorial candidates discuss budget allocation 

Esmeraldi and Martins said they are a “dynamic duo,” adding that their friendly chemistry keeps them grounded while campaigning.

“Sometimes I’m nervous about things, and he tells me it’s going to be fine, and when he’s freaking out, I tell him the same thing,” Martins said. 

For them, the campaign is not just about winning — it is about continuing to improve the USF community and carrying their passion through the student body.

“We’re doing this together, and we’re doing it for the right reason,” Esmeraldi said.

Martins said the ticket has been working to connect with students around campus, and added that they hope students view their ticket as peers who share the goal of fostering a better USF community.

“If you see us on campus, stop and talk to us,” she said. “We’re doing this out of passion, and we want to listen to the students we’re serving.”

This article is part of a “Meet the Candidates” series for all tickets running in the presidential election. 

The other tickets running in the race are: 

Hunter Rabinowitz (student body president) and Mia Riley (student body vice president)
David Zahn (student body president) and Titan Sanchez (student body vice president)
Tyler Williams (student body president) and Haran Mahesh (student body vice president)
Muhammad Kamil (student body president) and Linda Kahok (student body vice president)