By: Joey Zhu
The members of the Tower Hill Student Government Administration (SGA) huddle around a messy whiteboard. At the center of it all is Anjalie Chakravarti, calmly collecting notes and suggesting ideas. The group is planning for Spirit Week, and as press secretary, this is one of Anjalie’s many responsibilities. A key member of this year’s SGA, she strives to make the school better for her peers and constituents.
Anjalie has a long history with Student Government, starting her career on the communications board in her freshman year before serving on the service board junior and senior year. “In the past, I just did not find that [Student Government] appealing at all,” she reflects. “I just decided to run for press secretary on a whim.”
Press secretary, however, did present a certain calling to her. She didn’t have the credentials or the name recognition to run for either president or vice president, but she had plenty of experience running social media accounts and managing meetings. “Running for press secretary would play to my strengths a bit better.”
While campaigning, she interviewed her peers to find issues that she could help address. In fact, she realized that she quite enjoyed working with her community to solve problems. Even in a job she got on a whim, Anjalie soon found that she thrived in this collaborative, creative environment, so much so that it inspired her to push initiatives to foster a stronger sense of community at Tower Hill.
“I just felt like I was able to get creative in ways I wasn’t able to before. I really like talking to people about what their needs are and what they want to see.” Her face lights up as she reflects. “I also like that part of being a representative as well, being able to communicate with people and figuring out what their needs are.”
Her collaborative mindset fits in perfectly with the rest of SGA. Her fellow SGA member, President Brandon Liu, had this to say about the environment of SGA: “It’s very collaborative, very intimate, very professional.” He smiles. “We have incredible SGA members with incredible ideas that I don’t really need to be forcing each one to give me input.”
Even before she formally became press secretary, she already had grand plans for her term in office. “She was very proactive,” states school administrator Jessica Douglass. “She doesn’t ever have to be reminded.” In fact, it seems she’s been making life easier for the Administration. “It’s just been really easy. She has great ideas and I have only ever had to say, ‘Yes, that looks great. Go ahead’.”
At the heart of all her initiatives, however, are her constituents. In the words of Mrs. Douglass, “she has great ideas on what would be relevant to you all [the student body].” Her involvement with SGA has inspired a slew of student-focused initiatives in the works, looking to get students more engaged and involved with the school community.
“I’m just generally trying to get people more active,” Anjalie says. “A lot of things sometimes just get forgotten, so having a way for everyone to get to it…” She pauses to organize her thoughts. “Like you’re scrolling on the weekend and you see ‘oh, there’s a bake sale, I need to bring money for that.’ Just mainly making it more active and more accessible.” Along with her peers, she works to put these initiatives into action. As Mrs. Douglass says, “The excitement is great, and the follow through is happening.”
Through her social media initiatives and school events, she hopes to make Tower Hill a more active, interconnected community like the SGA she loves to be a part of, establishing the goal to get students to more actively engage with their school environment and each other. During her term, she, along with the rest of the SGA, asks one question: “How do we make school more fun?”
While she enjoys being press secretary, her life’s compass is aimed in a different direction. She always knew that she had a certain affinity for the STEM subjects. That is not to say the job hasn’t been a valuable learning experience. “It’s definitely given me leadership skills and [experience in] how to balance things.”
While Anjalie won’t be press secretary forever, she will carry with her the lessons and sense of community the job has taught her. In the meantime, she works with her friends to bring the school community closer together and to bring the collaborative experience of the SGA to the rest of the school. As Anjalie put it, “We all have a singular goal we are striving towards.”
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