By Staff Writers Larry Shi & Jessica Yu
After three weeks of school-wide campaigning, the new ASB officers for the 2021-22 school year were elected on February 26. The Smoke Signal interviewed the five officer-elects about themselves, their campaign goals, and more in their individual introductory videos.
Whether he is working through the homecoming all-nighters or organizing MSJ Interact’s service events, ASB President-Elect Alvin Wang is dedicated to the MSJ community. Currently serving as the Class of 2022 President, Wang ultimately attributes his dedication to leadership and serving the community to his peers, as he hopes to support them through his campaign goals. Wang was inspired to delve into student leadership in his sophomore year by fellow ASB officer-elect Jonathan Tao, and he hasn’t looked back since. “You get the role of representing your class and representing the school; even if you lose, you gain valuable experiences. And plus, you gain valuable friends along the way,” Wang said.
Wang’s main goals for the 2021-22 school year are increasing transparency between the ASB officers and fellow students, building reliable virtual and in-person communication between students and faculty, and expanding mental health resources.
The youngest ASB officer and the only incoming junior, it’s none other than your 2021-22 ASB Vice President-Elect, Amulya Harish. Harish previously served as the Class of 2023 Freshman Vice President, and is currently the Class of 2023 Sophomore President. Outside of school and ASB, Harish spends his time playing viola for the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra and running in both the MSJ Cross Country and Track and Field teams. He hopes to bring his multi-school collaboration experience from FUSD’s SURFBoardE and Fremont GENup into his new position. His experience working with other students from around the district has inspired him to create more district-wide unity events and student organization collaborations with SURFBoardE through his position as ASB Vice President.
This upcoming year, Harish aims to improve the access to the club calendar, as well as revamp the locker signup system at MSJ. To do so, he plans to shift the old system and utilize new tech for students to sign up on. “I think that if we have a calendar that everyone can access, for everyone to see the specific club dates and what they’re doing in each meeting, it’ll be easier for people to include what they’re interested in,” Harish said.
From serving as MSJ Varsity Girls Tennis Captain to binging a season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in one day, Junior Lindsey Wen is the ASB Secretary-Elect for the 2021-22 school year. Wen has served as the Class of 2022 Secretary since eighth grade and is extremely honored to serve the entire student body during her last year at MSJ. “Running for ASB Secretary has allowed me to strengthen my bonds with my teachers and also my peers, from every grade level,” she said. As Wen learned to balance the needs of a varsity sport and her schoolwork over the years, running for ASB helped her discover the importance of having dedication and persistent passion to better the school.
Her plans for next year include improving communication between classes, community engagement by creating weekly activity calendars, student-teacher bonding events, and implementing a new Ask MSJ system to allow underclassmen to anonymously ask questions to upperclassmen.
When he’s not working out or listening to music in his spare time, you can find ASB Treasurer-Elect Jonathan Tao working hard as the Class of 2022 Treasurer. Tao credits the MSJ student body for inspiring him to run for ASB Treasurer. “[W]hat inspired me [are] my peers at MSJ. These [are] all the people I interact with, whether it be people who I talked to a lot, or just people who were in my classes, or just any student in MSJ,” Tao said. A few of his hobbies include cooking, playing mobile games, hitting the court for a game of basketball, and participating in competitive math.
Next year, Tao plans to improve the Student Store experience, from implementing basic data analysis to better understand which products to cycle in and out to expanding the store’s online presence through developments such as virtual ticket sales.
An avid MSJ Cross Country and Track and Field runner, Junior Warren Chang is the 2021-22 ASB Activities Coordinator-Elect. Aside from planning for next school year’s activities, you can find him playing the cello, singing, hanging out with his numerous Peppa Pig figures, or wearing his signature bright yellow running shorts adorned with the poop emoji. This year, as part of Leadership 2’s (L2) Activities Committee, Chang has helped in the planning process for multiple engaging student body events, as well as introduced the idea to hold the Among Us Tournament. Chang plans to draw from his past experiences in L2 and amp up the MSJ student experience for returning students next year. “If we’re in person, I want to expand on incentives mostly just to increase student participation in events, since that’s been the biggest issue over the past years,” Chang said.
He hopes to host more large-scale tournament events, karaoke, and class versus class events to include both underclassmen and upperclassmen.
Photos courtesy of Staff Writers Larry Shi & Jessica Yu, and Junior Brandon Sun
Videos courtesy of the ASB Officer-Elects
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