“I joined the Leadership class because my two older siblings both really enjoyed the class and encouraged me to join,” said Associated Student Body (ASB) Vice President Juliana Delmendo.

“Between my freshman and junior year I fell in love with the program. I loved what we did so I strived to take on larger roles.” Those larger roles include Freshman Class President, various Committee Heads in her sophomore year, and a general class officer and a committee head during her junior year.

“I think I always knew that I wanted to be an officer and to do more, especially because I was confident that I would be capable to do the job well… Over online school I tried my best to hold conversations with different students to build relationships. I chose to go to hybrid learning, meeting people in-person, I was able to create genuine connections. I guess my campaigning was just to let myself be known to people personally and maybe on social media. “

As Vice President, her role is to run committees in leadership and to plan events for the school and community. She helps lead with brainstorming, creating and executing collaborated ideas for events. Within the class, she manages the commissioners who are students who want to take on a larger role in leadership and control some of the aspects of running the classes requirements. “Managing these commissioners includes ensuring they are doing their job and doing them well, answer any of their questions rather than overwhelming [Mr.] Towner, and just providing support for them when they need it.”

While she enjoys doing all of this at the high school level, she doesn’t see it being a goal for her in college. “I plan to focus on my academics and just having fun before fully entering adulthood, I guess,” she said.

Delmendo is a student in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program as well as a captain on the Armijo badminton team. “Before senior year I played as #2 on the Girls’ Golf team, danced Tahitian, and worked as a hostess for a restaurant.” But all of that has gone by the wayside as she is putting her efforts into focusing on her classes and her commitment to leadership.

That focus is important and she encourages anyone who is interested in student government to just do it, but be prepared. “It is good to take risks. And if you are questioning whether you are capable, believe in yourself and you will have so much fun, she said. “Also know that you are not on your own. You have the support of fellow officers (class and ASB), the students, and the leadership advisors.”