I want to be president because I want to make a change.
It’s that simple.
And of course, that sounds so big. It sounds so fake. It sounds so AI.
But sometimes, it’s simply the best way to describe something this complicated.
I’ve attended schools in Austin, Miami, Beijing, and Shanghai. I’ve experienced different ways of learning and different kinds of school communities. And there’s a reason why YK Pao matters to me.
YK Pao has more rules and expectations to follow. But alongside those rules, there is room for students to take responsibility and contribute to school life—to make a change.
Student-led CCAs. Student clubs. The Pao Paper. Students taking an idea and making it part of school life.
That ability to contribute is what made me care so much about this school and STUCO.
But that is still fairly broad. What do I actually want to do? How will I make this “change”?
Let’s take a look at the heart of STUCO itself: student feedback.
When we collect feedback at the end of a semester, we’re asking students to remember things that happened weeks or months ago. Sometimes, they don’t know what to say.
But that doesn’t mean they have nothing to say.
Feedback often starts in the moment. You notice something that could be better while you’re using it, while you’re standing there, while the problem is happening. By the end of the semester, you might have forgotten. And even when students do give feedback, what happens next?
Is somebody working on it? Was the change not possible? Was there a good reason to keep things the way they were?
Students don’t always know where their feedback went.
Last year, I led a Feedback Portal project in STUCO to make it easier for students to share ideas and concerns. This campaign builds on that work: a clear way to send feedback, follow its progress, and hear what happens next.
So here is what I want to do.
This does not depend on the school adopting a new feedback website. Students should be able to raise a concern in person, by email, or through another agreed channel and know that I will follow it up.
The student president can be that person.
And trust matters here. If you ask me to keep something private, I will not automatically share it with everyone in STUCO.
I can bring the issue to the appropriate teacher or department without unnecessarily sharing who raised it. If the situation needs more detail, I can talk to you about what needs to be shared. If someone’s safety may be at risk, I may need to involve a trusted adult.
And most importantly, I will keep you posted.
If a requested change cannot be made, I will explain the reason I was given. If the school is working on it, you will know. If something changes, I will ask whether it actually helped.
Because “resolved” on a list doesn’t necessarily mean resolved for the student.
I also want to write a monthly report showing the suggestions raised and what happened to them: received, in progress, or closed with an explanation. I would paraphrase the feedback and leave out identifying details. Of course, if you don’t want your concern included, it stays out.
The point is for students to know where their feedback goes.
I like public speaking. I like standing in front of an audience and having something to say. But I also want students to know they can come up to me afterward and have something to say themselves.
Of course, this is just one of my ideas. But I consider it a core priority. Feedback is a starting point: you need to understand a problem before you can address it.
Nobody wakes up in the morning and knows all the problems. But I can wake up in the morning and follow up on the ones you’ve told me about.