As this very fast year comes to an end, I would like to take the time to reflect on my experience at Strath Haven. As cliche as this may sound, it truly feels like just last month, we were walking into the building to start the year (in August)! When you get to your senior year and people tell you that it will be the fastest year of your life, listen to them. They are right. It’s crazy to me that four years ago, we were sitting on Zoom, starting high school from our beds. If you would have told my freshman self that she would be writing as the Student Council President, she probably would have laughed at you. That title still makes me a little uncomfortable, but I would not trade this experience for anything.
It has been my truest honor, privilege, and pleasure to serve as your Student Council President for the 2023-2024 school year. I would like to take this opportunity to begin to share with you what I have learned in high school and some of the things we accomplished here during my time as President.
One of the main things I have learned from my experience at Strath Haven is that the only constant in life is change. You will never truly be in the moment you are currently in, so learn to embrace it. Go to school events. Try that new activity. Become friends with that one person. Just do it! Sometimes, things can be enjoyable even when you’re not good at them. Knowing that you put forth your best effort and had some fun while doing it is more than likely to yield a content result.
Another thing, don’t stress the small stuff. I can not even count the amount of times I stayed up wayyy too late because of one assignment. Now listen, I am not, by any means, discouraging you from putting your best effort into schoolwork; however, I have found that your mental health is much more important than a grade in the portal. As Mr. Miraglia likes to call me an OCPC (obsessive-compulsive portal checker), I have taken this as a lesson to remind myself that you can be proud of your accomplishments, you can be proud of your trophies, but there is nothing more important than remaining true to yourself. People may not remember what award you got, the value of those may fade as time passes. However, during the process of achieving those successes, there is something that you will only learn the value of once it’s gone. Take time to enjoy the journey, not just the reward. Motivation is key. You cannot let the fear of making mistakes halt your pursuit of success. Once you have found self-motivation, other people will see that spark, believe in you, and want to help you.
On to the statistical stuff. We started the year by welcoming our freshmen Class of 2027 through a barbecue! I know I would’ve loved that as a freshman, so I hope that it was as much of an enjoyable experience for you all! Then, on the second day of school, we welcomed everyone back with a mini pep rally and over ¾ of the senior class wore their senior jeans! The Homecoming theme was A Night In The City, and it was the second year that students were able to vote for a theme. The Toy Drive was brought back after many years, which granted us the ability to gift over 100 toys to families in the area in need. We also welcomed back the Blood Drive for its second year returning, where we donated 103 units of blood with over 150 participants!
Spring Fling was also a huge success, with a record number of attendees and club tables! This had to be my favorite event by far. Despite the undesirable weather, everyone showed out with a smile on their face. I have to owe all credit to those who participated– the Coffeehouse performers, 25 clubs and sports teams, the outstanding crowd, and our team who put it all together! Finally, we brought back the Powderpuff Game after many years, accompanied by our new scoreboard with amazing video and audio advancements.
We had a total of 20 spirit days, including three spirit weeks. Still, we also honed in on important conversations with the administration, such as school WiFi, improved lunch menus, mental health excused absences, and, most importantly, transparency. I’m confident that you will see these positive changes within your time left at Strath Haven! Despite many difficulties that led us to re-imagine some of our projects, Student Council was luckily able to organize many exciting events this year to advocate for the student body. I could not be more appreciative of this opportunity, and I truly hope that our group’s contributions benefited our community.
Having met and worked with many of next year’s officers, I have no doubt that they will fill our shoes and more. Thank you for allowing me to represent you and for trusting me to be an emblem of the student body. I will forever be grateful for your support, and I hope I’ve made you proud.
My advice to you all is to fight for what makes you optimistic about the world. Find it, insist on it, dig into it, go after it, and remember that there can’t be flowers without some rain on the way. Never forget to have fun and smile.
I wish you all immense success and best wishes for the future.
