Written by Krishna Sunder and Kalpana Gopalkrishnan
As co-president of MVHS Octagon, senior Mahesh Murag has overseen the club’s major events including fundraisers such as the JDRF Walk against diabetes, the De Anza Crab Feed and Cure Cancer Café. Looking back, Murag is especially proud of his team for organizing Pie Toss, an annual event where students can donate money for a chance to throw pies at MVHS faculty.
“I think Pie Toss was a really cool event to put on and we did it for the first time in a few years so we had no experience go off of,” Murag said.
But according to Murag, there’s always room for improvement. Throughout the school year, Octagon partners with concessions stands at Stanford for students to volunteer. These are among the club’s most popular events, but co-president senior Andy Yang believed they could be improved further.
“[Stanford concessions] usually run pretty smoothly, but I guess we could work on publicizing them better,” Yang said.
Murag also noted the club’s largest annual event, Cure Cancer Café, should have been organized more efficiently. Octagon recruits over 50 volunteers to organize the event, and raises up to $6000 every year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
“I think the organization of Cure Cancer Café was a little rushed as we approached the event,” Murag said. “I could see how much coordination and timeliness it would take from all committees and at times it was tough to keep everyone on schedule with deadlines.”
Fortunately, Murag knows what the club needs to increase Cure Cancer Café’s fundraising impact.
“Next year, I’d like to move to a larger venue and invite a larger number of people,” Murag said. I’d also like to start promoting earlier and to more people so that we can get more people interested in performing their talents at the event.”
As she looks to next school year, Director of Club Outreach sophomore Clara Shen aimed to increase student engagement and provide more information about the club’s volunteer opportunities.
“For next year, we can definitely get more volunteers and give them a better idea of what the event will be about so they know what their jobs will entail,” Shen said.
But Shen is optimistic about her volunteers’ ability to impact their community, and remains inspired by their dedication.
“I’m always in awe of the volunteers who are willing to wake up early on Sunday morning, often before the sun is even up, to help make and serve food for the homeless,” Shen said. “This year, we had several dedicated members who came every week [to volunteer] and they really made everything run well.”
Murag is graduating, but hopes next year’s officer team will continue helping students engage with their community through Octagon.
“In the end, a few small changes would help us raise more and continue Octagon’s legacy,” Murag said.
