Diana Horvath was recently elected as president of the freshman class, along with vice president Jeremy Ebobisse, Secretary Isabella Herold and Treasurer Seungyeon Jung. In addition to adjusting to high school life, they also must adopt new responsibilities as class officers. Some of these responsibilities include representing and guiding their fellow classmates and raising money with fundraisers.
Ebobisse plans on representing his students to the best of his ability and wants to go into this year as enthusiastically as possible. He explained how being a part of the class office is not all about him, it is mainly about the students and guiding them the best he can.
“Happy freshman year equals happy students,” he said.
The class officers agreed that this experience has only improved their time at WJ. It has helped them meet friends, get to know people and get more associated with the school. The responsibilities also gave them a head start on real life and what high school could hold for them in the future, such as possibly serving in the Student Government Association (SGA).
“We are more involved in the community,” said Horvath. “I think we have become better leaders. It’s a lot of work but we are happy with the results.”
Although everything seems to be calming down now, the election process was very stressful. The officers were presented in front of people they did not know and were running against their friends. All of the officers were new to WJ and were busy with other activities in addition to their election campaigns.
“It [was] hard to juggle and was very stressful,” said Herold.
They all thought being a part of a new school and a new community was hard enough. They were all finding their way around school, trying to meet friends and most obviously, doing their school work and other school activities. Even though it was hectic, none of them regret running.
“I feel very accomplished and I have wanted to run for a while,” Horvath said. “I feel I have a lot to prove to the male population [and] that females have a lot to prove.”
Horvath was the only female running for president and the only female president at WJ. She had a lot of obstacles that the other presidents did not have.
Whether the motivation to run has been an on-going notion or just recently aspired, all the freshman officers have their own stories about what made student government desirable.
According to Herold, her interest was sparked when the 2010-2011 class officers came to speak to the middle school students. She realized that she wanted to be the one speaking in the future. Ebobisse explained that his inspiration was more along the lines of wanting the power to make a difference. His friends would talk to him about changing components of the school life environment and it made the ability of making change become desirable.
Regardless of what inspired them to run for elections, the common goal among the freshman class officers this year is the same for all. They want to raise money, have a good year and listen to what the students want. They are planning to have a T-shirt fundraiser, and are going to begin selling food at the basketball games. Although they anticipate an action-packed year, they look forward to the experiences.
“It has been a really fun experience and I am looking forward to the rest,” said Jung.
According to Horvath, the group has become a family and their sponsors are a major part of their success. They are not all sure about continuing to partake in student government in the future, but they all seem to be enjoying the experience now.
“I want [the students] to look back and feel that they are glad they made the right choice [electing us],” said Ebobisse.