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Emily White reflects on MVHS experience and looks to the future

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“While using Type to Learn, I was obsessed with Miley Cyrus and made a profile based on her. So, I made an account and [my teacher] was like, ‘Who is this?’ Then, a bunch of other students begun making other Type to Learn accounts under the names of other 2008 celebrities, and my teacher was furious. I’ve never told anyone that,” Emily White said.

White, Mountain View High School’s Associated Student Body President, Environmental Science Club Secretary, and a member of this year’s Homecoming Court, can now add “identity theft” to her resumé.

As a member of ASB for the past three years, White reflected on her experience a part of the class.

“What I’m most proud of is the class, and then the school. The class encountered a lot of change that will have a positive effect on MV for the coming years,” White said. “I’m also really proud of the students and their involvement. My perspective on school spirit has changed a lot, and I’ve come to realize how many people pour hours of work into what they do at MVHS, and I’m proud to work alongside them.”

According to White, the apparent lack of school spirit at MVHS has been a recurrent issue for ASB. However, White has come to realize that school spirit is open to interpretation.

“I think that school spirit has largely been perceived as sports games or rallies and how it’s portrayed in the movies. I think school spirit shouldn’t just be sports or sports events,” White said. “Trying to incorporate the different clubs and organizations at MVHS is important to school spirit, and I hope other people see that.”

White has made several efforts to incite student participation, exemplified by the event “Make Change Week,” coordinated by ASB, which was centered around social justice.

For example, one day was centered around on donating to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and another was focused on a food drive going to Second Harvest Food Bank.

Notably a feminist and environmental advocate, she considers herself to be a social activist, and invests herself in promoting diversity in the ASB class.

“ASB has become a lot more diverse over the time I’ve been at ASB and MVHS,” White said. “It’s difficult to do anything about it, but it’s important to make sure all groups on campus have a voice.”

However, White is confident that incoming ASB president Leah Lam will invest herself in ensuring representation.

“I think that there’s still a lot to be done with making sure that all people at MVHS feel that they’re either represented or their voice is being heard. I think Leah Lam is very openminded and she’s willing to hear everyone,” she said. “I think she has a clear plan in mind.”

In addition, she feels that the introduction of the ASB activities class will encourage a wider range of student participation, as students won’t have to undergo the stressful process of publicly running for office.

“I think [ASB Activities] is really cool,” White said. “It gets a lot more people involved. If you want to improve your leadership skills, but don’t want to run, you have the option of interviewing for the ASB activities class. I think a wider variety of people can now represent our school more accurately.”

White says she has had a wonderful time at MVHS and looks forward to potentially pursuing leadership in college, at American University.

 

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