St. Luke's: Why did you want to start Wildcatffeine?
Mohammed Shahrouj: While campaigning to run for SGA president, I wanted to make a big change in how SGA is portrayed and got the idea to make a coffee shop for students from friends and teachers.

SL:   How has Wildcattfeine evolved since your first opening day?
MS:   At the beginning of making Wildcatffeine, we wanted to make it like a general coffee shop such as Starbucks. When we started looking into the logistics, it was impossible for us to do and from there Dr. P gave us the idea of selling biscuits. We started small by only selling biscuits and Starbucks cold coffee and we kept adding things every couple of weeks. We added chicken nuggets, donuts, sports drinks, hot chocolate, and more.

SL:   What are the challenges of Wildcatffeine from your perspective (SGA President)?
MS:   Starting Wildcattfeine was one of the harder challenges that I have faced. First, finding a location was hard as we debated between many locations. Once we found a location our next challenge was getting a food license and having the right equipment to make this possible. We then partnered with the Wildcat Cafe to make it possible. Second, one of the harder challenges was getting dependable people to come to school extra early and help run the coffee shop.

SL:   What do you use the profit for?
MS:   We have many projects in line with the money we make. Our first project was buying picnic tables, which cost us around $1000.00. For our second project we wanted to give back and we started raising money for Water for Sudan, of which we have raised $1000.00.

SL:   What do you enjoy about Wildcattfeine?
MS:   The best thing I like about Wildcatffeine is that it's done by students for students and it brings the whole University Campus together on Friday mornings.

SL:   Do you hope the future SGA presidents will continue what you’ve started?
MS:   Yes, my main goal this year was to change how SGA operates and how it's seen by the school and I have set a precedent for the future presidents.

St. Luke's: What were your first thoughts when Mohammed brought this idea to you?
Cheryl Brown: My first thoughts were, Oh my goodness! This is a big undertaking and a huge commitment. We had several meetings to discuss what his thoughts were and what would be practical. I explained the Health Department's regulations. Which, of course he did not know that they would be involved. He initially wanted to do the coffee shop in the senior room. I had the Health Department here to look at the set up. There were many things that would not pass so I offered the cafeteria to him.

SL:   How have you helped Wildcattfeine?
CB:   I help out by purchasing items for him. I get the hot chocolate ready for him, but most of all I give him moral support.

SL:   What do you think he has learned from this experience?
CB:   Mohammed has learned many things by running the coffee shop. He has learned management skills, organizational skills, as well as learning the difficulty of having dependable and committed people to count. He has learned so much! I am very proud of him and his ambitions.