New Student Government Looks to Unify Midwood, Three Feet Apart
The student body elected an all-female government for the second year in a row. Photo: Ani Kuke
By CHERY ABDELMASSIH
“Good morning hornets,” said a new voice over the loudspeaker Tuesday morning, October 12. It was Midwood’s newly-elected mayor, Nafisa Haque, “coming at you with your morning announcements.”
After polls closed Friday, October 8, at 3:30 p.m., Coordinator of Student Affairs Lawrence Kolotkin spent the weekend counting votes for the new student government. On Monday morning, he sent out emails congratulating the winners — an all-female student government for the second year in a row.
Representing Midwood’s student body for the 2021-2022 school year are Mayor Nafisa Haque, a senior; Senior President Owaish Khan and Vice President Katherine Zhong; Junior President Alexandra Moore and Vice President Elia Gorelik; Sophomore President Aliye Gursoy and Vice President Cindy Li; Freshman President Kassidy Shyu and Vice President Serena Li; and Comptroller Joanne Zhu, a sophomore.
Candidates submitted an extensive application to the student government office that required the mayor and comptroller candidates to get 100 signatures from students and class reps to get 50. They were allotted five days to campaign as best as they could. A link was then sent out to students' emails to vote.
Representatives worked hard to encourage students to vote for them in the week prior to Election Day.
“When campaign week started, I worried about how exactly to stand out and get people to know me,” said Shyu. “I persevered even though I had my doubts.”
The pressure was on for all of the candidates — freshmen and seniors alike.
“I was very nervous because I was running against another amazing candidate, but I tried my hardest to advocate for myself and how I would continue to represent my class my final year,” said Zhong.
Using social media to their advantage, candidates campaigned far beyond taped-up posters. They built up their confidence as the week went along, receiving support from friends both online and in person.
“Any of my friends that were willing to support me reposted my campaign poster on Instagram,” Gorelik said. “This was my main campaign strategy to help get my name out there.”
Voters also promoted their choice of candidates on their social media accounts to encourage their friends to vote for the same people.
“I reposted some friends that I was going to vote for because I knew they cared about our well-being as students,” said Kaitlyn Tran ‘23. “The student government representatives I voted for and promoted stood for things that I agreed with changing in our school.”
Most of the candidates were returning representatives, with the exception of the freshmen. These returning candidates had some prior campaigning experience, and that helped.
“I announced my campaign in the beginning of my classes and I announced it in gym classes because they have the most students,” Haque said.
Mr. Nermin Cecunjanin, an AP United States Government teacher, opened up the first few minutes of his classes the week of the election to encourage students to promote their campaigns.
“[The student election] gives students a real world example of the importance of having elections in a democratic society,” said Mr. Cecunjanin. “Students get to see what representative government looks like and why it's important to vote.”
The applications for student government this year focused on a mission to unify Midwood, now that the school is back to fully in-person instruction.
“Due to the period of remote learning that we just came out of, there was an issue of a lack of direct communication between students and student government,” said Gursoy, whose running points centered around being the sophomore voice. “Now that I’ve been elected, I am sure to listen to students’ concerns and bring up solutions to the student government.”
Despite her lack of experience, Freshman President Shyu is keen on giving her best efforts as a student representative, something she has never been a part of before.
“The burden of campaigning is over, but I know I have responsibilities now that I have to be sure to take on well,” said Shyu. “My hard work paid off, and now it is time to represent my freshman class as best as I can.”
In spite of their losses, the opposing candidates were still encouraging their representatives to make Midwood a better place.
“I'm extremely excited for Nafisa because I know she’s going to do a great job,” said Deborah Zeleny ‘23. “I’m really proud of the whole student government this year and everyone who ran.”
After a long year and a half of remote learning, students are anxious to be back in the building, with requests and opinions on how to make their time at Midwood a better place.
“We really want to rebuild school spirit and positive energy for the freshmen and sophomores that have never been in the building,” said Zhong. “We’re always trying to encourage students to participate in clubs and productions like SING! and Hispanic Festival.”
The new team is promising an ambitious approach to adapting to the newfound needs of Midwood’s student body. “We’re trying to work on a mentor and mentee program that we’ve done in the past to help guide the freshmen at Midwood,” said Zhong.
Representatives got right to work, with an updated list of Spirit Days and other senior information regarding the rest of the year sent out to students’ emails just two weeks after the election.
In addition to school spirit, student representatives this year see the importance of rebuilding a united Midwood, even if it’s three feet apart.
“A united Midwood is going to look very different this year,” said Haque. But she’s confident she and the team can make an impact, she said, “with the help of my student government family.”
Disclosure: Nafisa Haque is also co-editor-in-chief of the Midwood Argus.