Make a Change.

The reason I want to be president is 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 stricter rules. More things you have to follow, to adhere to. But alongside those rules, there is room for students to take responsibility. To contribute to the environment, the community, and make a change.

Student-led CCAs. Student clubs. The Pao Paper. Students taking an idea and making it part of school life.

It is that feeling of being able to contribute that made me so passionate about this school, and STUCO as well.

Of course, all of that is still a lot of history and big words. 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.

Suggestions happen in a 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 it impossible? Was there a good reason to keep things the way they were?

Students don’t always know where their feedback went.

The problem it was meant to solve didn’t disappear.

So here is what I want to do.

A student should be able to come to me, tell me what’s bothering them, and know that I will follow it up.

The student president can be that person.

And trust matters here. If you choose to tell me something privately, you’re telling me. You haven’t automatically agreed to 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 is involved, I will need to involve a trusted adult.

And most importantly, I will keep you posted.

If there’s a reason why we couldn’t do something, I will explain it. 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 students to know what happened to the issues they raise: explained, pending, or resolved. I would leave out identifying details, and 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. Because feedback is the basis of everything. You must understand what the problem is before you can fix 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.