This article is by guest writer Saniya Rajagopal ‘21, the President of Student Council.

Coming into this school year, I didn’t know exactly what to expect when it came to Student Council. How can you strengthen the school community in a time where everyone is so isolated and distant, no pun intended? 

The standard plan for the first few weeks of Student Council meetings usually consists of planning Marconi Beach Day, discussing the Back-to-School Picnic, and brainstorming themes for future dances. However, as the cancellations of our favorite school-wide events piled up, the fate of the school year seemed grim. Before the first Student Council meetings, I found myself dwelling on the uncertainty. How can Student Council lead the school during a time when everything is so uncertain? I thought about this a lot, and delivered my answer to this question in my opening speech at our first official All School Meeting, “We won’t get through this in spite of the current circumstances, but because of the people.” That concept reshaped my outlook on the year and created Student Council’s new goal for 2020-2021: How can we use the strength of FA’s community to enhance our disturbingly strange school year? Yes, we are losing events that we usually identify as crucial to the school year, but we have a unique opportunity that Student Council hasn’t been given since the beginning of the elective: A blank sheet. There is absolutely no sense of normalcy  lingering this year, so we can invent whatever events and traditions we would like to. 

The first step we took was to identify exactly why we loved the events and traditions that we lost. We love Marconi because it’s a way that seniors can prove their leadership while also enjoying inter-grade teamwork with a competitive twist. We love the Back-to-School Picnic because we get to play fun games with our friends from across all grades. The next step was to create brand new events that still foster the same qualities of the beloved former events. Without spoiling too much, Student Council has already created a list of possible events that home in on the excitement and beauty of Marconi and other missed events. Once the event is approved, it’s ready to be added to the calendar for the whole student body. 

Student Council also understands that since this year is so strange, just about every student must have some opinion on possible events we can put together. With this in mind, we created the “Ask the Officers” student survey, where students can anonymously submit ideas or topics that they would like Student Council to consider and discuss. Students also have the option to request to sit in on a meeting and present their ideas to Student Council. So far, we have gotten many replies and have already started listening to the requests and moved forwards with many of the ideas.

It’s easy to feel exhausted by the current situation. But the knowledge that we are creating a brand new school environment and building new traditions from ground zero makes me genuinely excited. The idea that some of the traditions we create this year might stick  for years to come is thrilling. We aren’t just practicing standard traditions; we are taking a step back and rethinking what the Falmouth Academy community actually wants and needs. I truly hope that the entire student body can find solace in this creation, because maybe a blank canvas is exactly what the school needs.