From left to right: Juniors Ava Augusto, Jack Favata, Mia Hurtado, Esther Coelho, Delores Calvao, Taylor Colberg, Sophia Scyocurka, Madison Tereso, and Caitlyn Day.

As many people know, junior year is regarded by many as the hardest year you’ll experience in high school. Junior year can be overwhelming, with classes getting harder, worrying about college, struggles with time management, and maintaining important relationships. 

Now, imagine adding the pressures of being in student council on top of all of that.

Most people don’t realize how much the student council has to manage during junior year. Planning prom, senior farewell, a field trip, and fundraisers isn’t easy, especially within one year (and that year is one of the hardest). These events require meticulous planning, coordination with school administration, budgeting, and endless meetings. 

As secretary of the student council, it is definitely a stressful time when you realize the amount of pressure and work put on just a small amount of people. 

This year our class has spent countless hours organizing and planning these events to ensure we get the best outcomes for what we plan. Each and every one of the members of the student council has worked extremely hard to make sure everything was close to perfect. 

Junior Jack Favata, class president said, “The hardest thing I worked on was trying to ensure everything stayed organized and that everything was communicated to the right people. Whether it be communicating between the officers and representatives or our advisors or even other school personnel around the building, I think the hardest part of Junior year was keeping all parties on the same page”

Being an advisor isn’t an easy job either, especially when there are only two assigned to a class. The usual standard is three starting in junior year—now I can see why. Even though having a third advisor definitely would have helped, our two advisors, Mr. Augusto and Mr. Gavrilov, have truly excelled in supporting us and ensuring that tasks are completed effectively.

This year has certainly brought about new challenges for all of us in terms of managing all of the extra pressures and stresses that we haven’t experienced before. Junior class advisor Mark Augusto shares “All class advisors would agree that the Junior year is by far the busiest. In addition to your normal trips, and fundraising you have the prom and senior farewell to plan.  Both are very time-consuming endeavors. I will say the collecting of funds for the prom is much easier than in years past with current technology.  This year is the big push to get through then after that it is pretty much smooth sailing. No pain no gain!” 

Student council isn’t as easy as some people think it is. All of the members have definitely struggled with keeping up with all of the stress at some point.

“What I struggled with most was probably handling the stress that came in the springtime with dealing with prom, our field trip, and senior farewell. It was a lot to plan and I would find myself working on certain aspects for hours such as planning prom tables and finalizing senior farewell scripts. Overall, springtime of junior year in student council is definitely the most stressful and challenging time of the year,” says junior Esther Coelho, class vice president.

Managing all of this on top of AP classes, jobs, sports, and a social life was something difficult for all of us. Junior Taylor Colberg, class treasurer says “I used up all of my free time after school to make sure my homework along with all my other work was finished. Sometimes I would be up past midnight just to make sure I was able to manage all my classes during these stressful times.”

Even though we work as hard as possible, it doesn’t always work out the way we want it to. In the fall we planned a fun field trip to Salem, which unfortunately got canceled days prior to the trip. Us student council members were just as shocked as everyone else when we heard the news, but ended up getting the backlash for it. “I was in complete shock. I remember sitting in my chemistry class with my jaw on the floor just like everyone else’s. My face immediately turned bright red and I called Esther to find out if she knew about the cancellation ahead of time. Immediately my head went right to speculating about what people were going to say” says Favata.

Backlash is not easy to deal with. When you work so hard for something and people so quickly complain it is not easy to hear. Favata states “People don’t see the work that goes on behind the scenes and the time we all put in outside of school, so it’s hard not to let criticism get to your head and your heart. Meetings are open to all students, and yet the ones who seem to complain are the ones that don’t voice their concerns when we are in the planning stages.” 

This year has definitely been an eye-opener when it comes to realizing how much you have to prepare for in such little time. Yes, we always knew we would have a lot to accomplish this year, but sophomores, it comes faster than you realize. So, our class president has shared some helpful advice to hopefully prepare you guys. “I would advise you to delegate tasks to each officer and representative. There is way too much to do junior year for one person to take it on all by themselves, and by divvying up the tasks, it ensures everything will get done while avoiding unnecessary stress and burnout. Time is your best friend. Nothing is ever too early and you will find that the earlier you plan things, the better they turn out. Things have to get approved by multiple parties and that can often take a long time. Also, the spring will get extremely hectic. While our Salem field trip didn’t end up working out, I still would suggest trying to try and plan a fall trip to avoid chaos in the spring.” 

As we approach the end of the school year, we can finally step back and recognize how much we accomplished in one year. Junior class advisor Timofey Gavrilov says “This school year was pretty busy. It definitely started off on a sad note with a canceled trip to Salem but I was really happy to see our group bounce back and focus on putting on a great prom. It was encouraging to see our entire council discuss how to put on prom and work hard after school cleaning and making decorations. Since freshman year planning prom felt like the big thing in the distance that would take so much work but now that it is done it feels good knowing that it was a group effort that was successful. It was also a nice hearing how much everyone loved the events we put on this year. Our end-of-the-year field trip was also a great time and way to chill after a busy school year. I am excited for next year as we begin planning senior events. I hope more students get involved and participate in senior events and spirit week competitions.”

Our student council is extremely relieved that the stress of all this planning is behind us and proud of what we have accomplished. We are definitely ready for senior year.