Candidate Audrey Lee

“I want senior year to be the best year of people’s high school experience.”

Joy: How would you summarize your campaign?

Audrey: I think especially since it’s going to be our senior year, a lot of my campaign is focused on being able to give our class the best that we have as possible because I think it’s really important that we reach out to more groups that haven’t really participated during the last four years of high school. I want to give them a good experience. For those who have participated, I  want to make sure that these people continue to be very passionate and very active, enjoying themselves during their last year. 

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

A: I think I’m the best candidate for class officer because I think I’ve had a lot of experience and I’ve worked with so many people in class council so I know what needs to be done to make class council concise and transparent and work very smoothly, especially during Bench. I’ve experienced a solid bench and class council plan. I’m very qualified and I’m a very positive person, making me approachable and easy to talk to. I’m also able to delegate tasks and I try not to be biased about it. I think I’m good at separating the bias between my friends and other class council members, keeping everyone accountable. 

J: What is one way you would gain input from your class outside of your bubble of friends?

A: I think that reaching out to people who have been in different families is important because I’ve seen that certain people in class council this year in different families are able to bring a lot of people to our events that wouldn’t come otherwise. I think it’s a really good way to bring people in because a lot of people don’t come unless their friends are there.

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

A: I want senior year to be the best year of people’s high school experience. I want to use what I’ve learned in the last three years to keep on improving.

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

A: I think we’ve always tried to keep a more realistic goal. Sometimes, we play it too safe because I feel like we can do a lot more. It was really amazing to see what the seniors this year accomplished because they were able to unify their class and really bring people together. I think in terms of bench I really want to make sure that we have a vision and build off of it to inspire other classes to put their best foot forward, too.

J: What ideas do you have for homecoming?

a: I think that planning to make sure that we have a strong class council and have people that are especially passionate about certain projects is important. I think that having passionate people makes it so that you don’t have to worry as much about stuff getting done and you know that they’ll put their best work forward. If I see someone passionate about something at bench, I want to match them with that passion and make sure that they can pull off what they really want to do.

J: How would you organize the class dances and get people to participate in them?

A: We have to get the class dance done earlier next year. I think that last year dance wasn’t as much a priority. We have to have people who are more responsible and we have to push deadlines to get things done. Not a lot of people knew the dance last year and that’s why they didn’t want to participate in the dance so we just need to do stuff as soon as possible.

J: Do you think that your class has unity or school spirit? If not, how would you improve it?

A: Our class has unity and spirit, but during junior year grades and extracurriculars are more of a priority to students. I think that in senior year our class will be able to make our last homecoming week memorable.

J: How will you work with class council to improve school spirit?

A: I think something that works well to publicize homecoming is a video. For example, I’m inspired by American High School; their spirit is good and their videos are really impressive. I think that there are people in our class that can make those videos just as well, maybe even better. I want to capitalize on that and take time at the end of summer to get people hyped for the last homecoming week. 

J: How will you recruit students for class council?

A: I think there are people that I don’t know that have participated in class council activities. For example, there are people that are involved in events and benchbuilding but aren’t actually part of class council. I want to talk to them because they’re already showing their interest and I want to give them that final push, telling them that they’re qualified so that they will join. Also, I want to keep talking to people and getting people to encourage their friends to try out. 

J: Application-wise, what will the process be like to prevent bias?

A: I think last year something that Krithik and I did really well was that we put out a blind application as the first step to get the answers to questions. We didn’t have the name of the people applying and only had the ID numbers. I think that worked really well because we couldn’t have personal bias towards anyone.

J: How are you going to organize and manage a large group of students in class council? How will you delegate tasks?

A: I want to continue what we did in the last few years. I want to continue having split commissions with heads. Without them, I think it would be hard to maintain accountability and get things done.

J: What are your plans to have events for your class over the course of the year?

A: During senior year, there’s a lot more to do: Senioritis, Irvington Top Viking, Grad Night, awards, and senior superlatives. I think there’s a lot more to look forward to because people actually realize it’s their last year in high school and that works as an incentive to actually participate in things. Basically, I’m just focusing on making sure we can plan events in detail and organize them so that they can be the best they can be.

J: Do you have any specific plans for Prom next year? 

A: I feel like a lot of what we want to do next year comes down to what happens this year, what works and what doesn’t. Every class is unique and different and so events have to be catered to meet different demands. 

J: Do you anticipate a combined Prom next year, and either way how will you raise the funds for it?

A: There’s most definitely going to be combined Prom and I think that it will continue to be combined. Irvington was the last school in the Fremont Unified School District to not combine the Proms, and there some cons but the pros outweigh the cons so much. Fundraising is utilizing our fundraising commission and working with the sophomores this year so that we continue to fundraise and we keep people accountable to make sure we meet our goals. 

J; Why exactly do you think combined Prom is better?

A: With combined Prom, we have more funding with two classes working together to fund it. It means we have better amenities. For example, this year we’re planning to have two photo booths and a flipbook booth, compared to last junior prom, which had one photo booth due to money issues. Working to have one event with two budgets, it’s easier to afford a nicer venue and better food (tacos, mac and cheese bar, and even Boba Guys). On top of that, combined prom means more people. People sometimes don’t like to have others not from their class at Prom, but in reality, you’re not interacting with anybody there but your friends. And when you have more people at the event it’s better than having only your class there in a large venue and the event looking empty.

J: As a senior class officer, how will you make our last year memorable?

A: I want to capitalize on everything I’ve learned so that we continue to do things that we do well and plan ahead of time to make sure that we can go through any possibility of a mistake so that everything we put out is the best and people have the best time.

J: Are there any specific bondings you want to have senior year?

A: I think the Dodgeball Tournament will be planned for next year because it makes people really competitive (in a good way) and people enjoy themselves more because they get to watch their class members compete. It was really fun to cheer people on. Senior sunrise and picnic are good too, all of these traditions that we’ve seen other seniors do would be nice to experience too.