“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

W4 classes all around school this morning listened as junior Patricia Moriba quoted her idol, poet Maya Angelou, as she concluded her speech for the position of class officer for the class of 2013. Already an avid leadership student, Moriba said that she would work hard if elected for the position.

“Watching the election speeches really helps me to make my decisions about who to vote for,” junior Areeqa Khilji said. “It depends on what the candidates advocate in their speeches and what sorts of plans that they have for next year.”

Gunnar Thompson, who is also running for the Executive Board of 2013, says that having two of his friends run as his campaign managers and planning for his speech helped him to be more confident about running for class officer.

“I had much more experience running for the Board this year than last,” Thompson said. “I was able to work out the tweaks and kinks that I couldn’t last year. I made shirts and gave out candy thanks to my campaign managers juniors Betsy Kruse and Jenny Ha.”

After two weeks of campaigning, students will find out who won the elections during W4 on Monday, April 29.