For the first time, there are non-class officer freshmen in ASB Leadership
In previous years, ASB Leadership was composed of class officers, ASB officers and commissioners from the sophomore, junior and senior classes. To help increase representation and promote participation within the freshmen class, Leadership added freshmen non-class officers as commissioners. Freshmen Sriya Srinath of Student Life commission, Shrav Mehta of Histech commission and Alexander Pieb of Spirit commission were chosen after completing an application and interview process against 30 other freshmen.
“[The class is] exciting and we’re just starting event planning,” Srinath said. “[We provide] different input and it’s input from someone who’s younger.”
Outside of the class, these freshmen commissioners help reach out to a larger audience. Class officers have the ability to reach out to their friends and connect with others through social media; the freshmen commissioners help expand this network. Seniors that have been in Leadership as officers for the past years wished that they could have had the experience of having freshmen commissioners working with them.
“When we were freshmen, we didn’t really have that much representation, especially when we voted on things in leadership council,” ASB secretary senior Kelly Woodruff said. “When you have more freshmen together, you can make decisions better when class officers don’t know what to do about something.”
When it comes to finding a familiar face, there are suddenly three more people that the 2014 class officers can go to. However, the freshmen are not asked to work as an independent unit; they continue to receive plenty of support and mentoring from the upperclassmen.
“When we don’t understand stuff, the [older] class officers do help us out and they personally come ask us [if we need anything],” social manager freshman Bharathi Chitneni said.
All of the freshmen in Leadership are excited for the upcoming year and all the new things in store for them, like learning how to organize events for the student body. These freshmen commissioners hope to take their experiences and contribute more back to the student body as they become comfortable with the Leadership class.
“As freshmen, we have to learn as we go,” Srinath said. “That’s one thing that’s different. We have to learn what’s going on in this school and do it as well, which is fun.”
Corrections:
10/2/10-Freshmen commissioners were chosen from a pool of over 30 applicants after an application and interview process.
