Candidate Sumehra Ferdous

“I […] want my class to understand that voting shouldn’t be based on popularity but rather what the candidates want to do in the future.”

Rory: If you could summarize your campaign in one word, how would you describe it? Why?

Sumehra: In a phrase, I can summarize my campaign with “soar high”. Class of 2023 has had some interesting things said about them. As a sophomore class officer, I would like to embrace the Class of 2023 and allow people to unite and harmonize with one another. 

R: Why are you the best candidate for class officer?

S: I believe that I have three major qualities necessary for effective leadership: the ability to collaborate, be creative, and stay optimistic. Being able to collaborate with others is important for creating a united group of students; I also think that having someone who understands both sides of the spectrum can bring people together. Being creative is also a major aspect of leadership because sometimes it requires you to do things outside of your comfort zone. And lastly, being optimistic makes you more approachable.

R: What do you want to get done as class officer?

S: As class officer, I want to make our class more united because I’ve noticed that people tend to stay within their own specific groups and I don’t see many people connecting with one another to form a whole class. I want our class to be more spirited, too, partaking in simple spirit events like wearing blue crews on Friday. I think being a class officer can inspire more people to participate. 

R: What would you do differently than what is being done this year?

S: I feel like I want to reach out more than this year. Personally, I’ve noticed that our class officers haven’t been open enough with the class, posting forms and polls. I’ve seen a lot of publicity for events but not a lot of outreach asking, “Did you actually attend this event? What did you think of it?”

R: What is one way you would gain input from your class? (How will you reach outside of the “popular kids” bubble?)

S: I would definitely post google forms and polls on my Instagram story and in the Class of 2023 Facebook group. I also plan to ask people for genuine input on specific events like Homecoming or Winter Ball, for example. 

R: What ideas do you have for homecoming?

S: I personally think that decisions made regarding Homecoming can’t be made by one person alone. My personal plan would be splitting up class council members into specific groups and giving each one of them a specific deadline for getting certain tasks done. I think it’s important to get things more organized on the whole. Then, we don’t have to depend on just one person to get things done.

R: How will you organize class dances? How will you get the class to participate in them?

S: I used to be really insecure about dancing in front of a whole lot of kids, but I slowly grew out of it.  I want people to understand that it’s not as bad as it seems. Also, we could do fun little events during class dances. For example, it could be at the park and the class could jam to music. 

R: How will you encourage school spirit in your class? 

S: I personally think if people see other people dressing up, they’re more willing to go out of their comfort zone. For example, my friend and I were trying to figure out whether or not we should dress up for multicultural day. After some debate, we agreed to do it and found that there were more pros than cons in doing so. Multiple people had dressed up for multicultural day, too, and others mentioned how they wished they’d dressed up too. My goal is to inspire and influence others to do the same. 

R: A major keystone of homecoming week is benchbuilding, which is done through each class’s class council. How will you recruit students for class council?

S: I mainly would like possible candidates to answer a specific amount of questions regarding how much they partake in spirit days and their availability since bench building happens during the summer. But I’m mainly basing this off of the idea that everyone can be a part of class council. 

R: How are you going to organize and manage this large group of students in your class council?

S: I mean definitely I would want to take down people’s preferences first. Of course, I would ask how each person feels doing a certain task, but if they have valid reasoning as to why they don’t want to do it, that’s understandable, too. 

R: How will you push to increase school spirit with class council?

S: Publicity is a major thing, and I would like all of the class council or most of the class council to dress up. 

R: Typically, class events end after homecoming. Do you have plans to have events for your class throughout the year?

S: I think that I said this in my speech, too, but I want to have a potluck on both the first and last bench building days. I think that it’s important that people have fun with their friends so that they spend their four years in high school well. Another class event I was hoping to implement was having all of the class council meet up and hang out after school hours. 

R: Now that you’re more familiar with the high school environment, what differences do you see between ASB in junior high and ASG now?

S: The dances are definitely bigger. I think that this year’s ASG is more organized compared to ASB in junior high. Also, there’s much more efficiency at Irvington. For example, in junior high I wanted to go to a formal but they didn’t have enough time to give tickets to everyone, and I thought that was kind of disorganized. But it’s going well at Irvington, from what I’ve seen this year. 

R: What message do you want to leave voters with? 

S: I just want my class to understand that voting shouldn’t be based on popularity but rather what the candidates want to do in the future. I’m always rooting for my class, so a vote for me is a vote for everyone else, too. I want all of us to be able to partake in school events and communicate better with one another.