Impacting the school community by Alex

Impacting the school community by Alex - November 2019 Scholarship Essay

“Clap once… Clap twice!”
The crowd silenced and all 52 participants pointed their eyes directly at me. I have prepared for this day for years, to be up here, running this show. However, I was still nervous. I took a breath and dove right in, knowing exactly what I have to do.
Peer Leaders Uniting Students is something I have always been proud of, and I love my role as the President of the school organization. Throughout the years I have seen the impact PLUS makes on the school community, and I can say I lead some of those changes. Such as Mental Health Awareness on campus, communication between administration and the student body, a platform for students to reach out for help with anything, and bringing awareness to our school resources.
The PLUS forum was the most important event that I have led, but is was not easy. 50 sweaty, anxious people crammed into the same room, and everyone is counting on me to lead them in discussions and activities. The forum is a platform for any student to come up with any issue on campus, and after discussing it, we encourage everyone to come up with a solution. These issues are what PLUS resolves throughout the year.
For example, in a 2017 survey, 24% of 41 students said yes to “I have felt isolated/harassed at school within the past year”. When we saw the results we knew we had to do something, so we started Sweep the Halls. Sweep the Halls is a PLUS activity where some of us go out at lunch and check in on the students who are look alone or upset. Most of the time we ask if they want company and we sit with them and talk. Meeting new friends is one of my favorite things to do, so it was often me who went out at lunch. I was ecstatic when we asked 52 students the same question in 2019 and only 15% said yes. That is a huge improvement from a high school and shows the power of PLUS involvement.