Prudent Class Presidents

Being the president of the an entire country is one thing, but being the president of your

high school class might be almost nearly as challenging. Dealing with an entire group of moody,

unmotivated teenagers, can be just as difficult as it is rewarding. Michael Adamo, the class

president last year, reflects on his time as president as being “frustrating”. He said that dealing

with people was the most difficult part, an issue likely paralleled to what the president of the

United States may face. Everyone has extremely differing opinions, and to please everyone as

well as seeing to everyone’s needs, Adamo said, was certainly the most difficult part.

The other major challenge he said he faced was finding the time to balance everything

he did outside of his presidency as well as school. Being an AP and Honors student in nearly

every subject, a captain of the swim team, and a hurdler in the spring for track, maintaining an

entire class of varying students was not easy. Not only this, Adamo frequently mentioned that

getting our class (2017) to participate. As a whole, there is little enthusiasm and support for one

another in our class. Even Adamo’s multiple successful fundraising events could not mend the

underlying disunity of our class, although to no fault to him.

Grace Hollis, a junior, and the president of the class of 2016, faces similar issues, but

deals with a much more passionate group than the class of 2017- which can often make her job

just a bit easier than Adamo’s was. Hollis’s meetings draw well around 100 students every time,

though she said it “can be quite challenging to command respect from everyone, especially people you don’t know very well”. By asking for feedback from anyone, she first hand sees how

her and her team’s presidency affects her class and the school. “Of course, there are lapses in

communication at times,” says Hollis, but she manages her team in a very effective manner. Her

main goal is to lower prom costs, fundraise, and get the most out of their last few years of

highschool by making it an enjoyable experience for everyone.

All presidents, regardless of what they are presidents of, take on a great deal of

responsibility, and with heavy schedules with AP classes and varsity sports, sometimes these

tasks can be very difficult. What makes a successful president lies in their goals and how they

carry them out; at times, the environment and group one presides over can deal a president a

bad hand and makes the job even more difficult and stressful than it normally would be.

Everyone has to work together in order to achieve the main goals, and ultimately, presidency

takes teamwork and strong leadership, both of which Adamo and Hollis possess.

#editorial