On Sept. 14, students swarmed into room B105 with anticipation for Leo Club’s interest meeting and the promise of free pearl milk tea. Within a few minutes of the lunch bell, students filled the seats and crowded around the front of the classroom, anxiously awaiting the start of the meeting.

Leo Club officers alternated between presenting the basics of the volunteer club, as they elaborated on leadership opportunities, annual volunteer project committees and social events. After the presentation, students lined up at the front of the room to receive their free pearl milk tea, which was provided to everyone who signed up prior to the meeting. In addition, those who wore their Leo Club t-shirt or promoted the interest meeting on their social media accounts also received a slice of free pizza.

With the turnout of about 60 people at the meeting, president and senior Rahul Sawhney hopes the majority of students who attended will continue to be active members. Sawhney intends to achieve this by fostering stronger officer and member relationships.

“The main thing I want to change this year is making sure that we know all of the members and we’re more personally involved with them,” Sawhney said. “Last year, I think that was a large problem where we had so many members, but we didn’t know who they were.”

For secretary and junior Tom Zhang and project manager and sophomore Grace Kuo, their focus for this year revolved around making the club more engaging for members. As Kuo is tasked with researching and organizing volunteer events, she hopes to encourage more involvement from all club members.

“This year, I hope to find a project that everyone can work cohesively with,” Kuo said. “We can make the club members more involved, not just the committees.”

Vice president and junior Ted Chai echoes this sentiment, believing that the types of volunteer events they participate in are crucial to this goal.

“Our main goal as the entire club is to just have more impactful events,” Chai said. “We’re collaborating with other schools to just do more for the community.”

Chai reflects on the book donation event as his favorite memory from last year, noting it as an example of the type of events he hopes to do more of.

“We fundraised, and we bought 300 books that we donated to low income schools,” Chai said. “Just the act of seeing the kids and talking to the administrators — that was a great experience.”

Check out the infographic for an overview of the 2018-2019 Leo Club officer team and each officer’s favorite memory from last year.