Abbot Co-President: Adaeze Izuegbunam ’20 and Grace Hitchcock ’20
Grace:
“What Adaeze [and I] are looking to do is sort of unify Abbot and really make sure people feel like they have a home in Abbot… On top of that, we really want to act as sort of representatives between the student body and the administration. Adaeze and I have a list of [objectives that] individual members of the Abbot community want to see, and so one of our primary goals is definitely going to be having that open communication throughout the entire year. I love so much about Abbot. I definitely think that the walk and the people together sort of are what makes it special. As much as it might seem treacherous to walk ten [minutes] to and from [Paresky] Commons in the middle of winter, the people that live in Abbot are just so loving and caring and really welcoming of one another. I’ve just found a sense of home in Abbot.”
Adaeze:
“Actually, I wanted to be a Blue Key Head. Jeffery, a friend of mine, we were planning on running [for Co-Presidency] together if we didn’t get Blue Key Head, but [then], he did. Mr. Parker emailed me and Grace saying congratulations that night and it was just sort of that moment that things [Jeffery and I] both had been working towards [came] together. They say everything happens for a reason. But it’s really nice to see myself being in a position that I want to be a part of and have a hand in shaping Abbot. [I’ve been] given the power by my peers to do so, and it’s just nice knowing that they believed in me and Grace. [And] I love Abbot. It’s really the people that make the community, and something about Abbot is that for the most part, the people there want to be there.”
FLG Hanna Wu, Rob De Jesus
Rob’s: “I [have] lived in Flagstaff for two years, and I’ve seen a lot of the good and bad. I think it’s important to… serve in leadership positions in order to expect change and I want to be that sort of person that brings change to Flagstaff and improve Flagstaff for the future. I just love all the people, and I just don’t think there’s a lot of things to dislike about Flagstaff. And for us, I just want there to be more things that we can love about Flagstaff.”
Hanna’s: “I feel like Rob and I have a lot of ideas to make life easier for all students at Andover because it’s such a busy place. We really want to integrate a lot of community-building to make everyone closer in the cluster and a little happier as well.
I was a new Lower last year and I was placed in Flagstaff, so it’s my second year here. I just love the people, I feel like they’re all so nice. The cluster munches are always so fun and such a great community [builder] as well. We can improve on the social media aspect to maybe post more updates about cluster council meetings and reminders about cluster munches as well. I feel like that’s one aspect we can improve.”
PKN Karen Sun, Shree Melon
Karen: “I’ve had two distinct moments at this school where I was just pretty sad and just down in the dumps. Both times, the one thing that really brought me up was this cluster… Just chatting with people in my common room, going to cluster munches, going to cluster council, seeing cluster leadership, seeing all my friends in Pine Knoll, just made me so incredibly happy. And I didn’t realize how much it had an impact on me until I re-oriented my perspective on Andover towards the end of Winter term. That was the kind of the moment when everyone was deciding whether or not they wanted to run which coincided with the moment where I was like, “Oh my god, this cluster has been the thing that has been getting me through these really tough moments at my time here at Andover. And I just want to really give back to those communities that has supported me through all the rough times.”
Shree: “For next year, one of our goals is to make the new students feel [more] welcome in Pine Knoll because as returners, we already know that our community is so tight-knit. But for the new kids, it might take a while. To do that, we plan on having events every term, [like] challenges between dorms or having more activities at the cluster munches or otherwise over the weekends that will allow these students to get to know other [Pine] Knollers right now.
WQN Pickle Emerson, Sadie Cheston-Harris
Pickle: “Well, the Quads is a great place. We want to continue the happy and wonderful community that [is] there already, [especially] just the Quads space in general. Those two lawns are really nice for playing games, hanging out with friends. We want to have a little study space in the lawn so students can actually do work there.”
Sadie: “I really like that the Quads is a really large community on campus as we are two fifths of the clusters, and some of the biggest clusters. But we’re also slightly separated from the center of campus, so you still do get to go away from the center of campus or the center of your life every night when you go back to your dorm. We really like the Quads, and West Quad North as it is, but there are a few things that we want to add. We plan on bringing in hammocks and we also are attempting to get filtered water for all the dorms.”
WQS Eamon Garrity-Rokous, Abigail Ndikum
Abby: “I believe that West Quad South is facing a crisis in which the safety of those living there is put in danger and I wanted make a difference to help ensure the safety of those living in West Quad South. My favorite thing about West Quad South is the connection I have with so many of the people living there. I lived in Johnson [House] my Lower year, and I had so much fun meeting new people in the dorms since it was an upperclassmen dorm. I enjoyed the munches, I enjoyed the camaraderie. I just had a great time in West Quad South and I wanted to come back and hopefully allow incoming Lowers and new people into the Quads to have that same enjoyment.”
Eamon: “I [had] many ideas already that I was thinking about to help West Quad South… and so when Abby decided to run with me, and [we] began talking coming up with ideas, that just solidified our resolve and we now became set on improving West Quad South, making it better than it already is. I think that West Quad South has a strong sense of community, and above all, I think everyone’s favorite place is definitely the barn. So we want to not only improve that space, but also keep it nice and clean and a great space where people can come together whether you’re a day student or boarder. Or from whichever dorm.”
Editor’s Note: Rob De Jesus is a Subscriptions Manager for The Phillipian. Pickle Emerson is a Video Editor for The Phillipian.
