“I am not a perfect leader. No one is, but we all have room to improve and grow,” said Janelle
Basa, Junior Class President.
Basa has been in leadership since her freshman year. She chose to run for office to improve her
leadership skills and have an impact on Armijo, “As well as growing personally,” she said. “I
deeply care for others and my goal was to help others grow as well.”
For Basa, Leadership is more than simply planning events. “Leadership is a program just like
ROTC that is here to help shape students into becoming better leaders,” she said. “As a
program, we are also working on bettering the school as a whole.”
Being an officer has taught Basa many things about her personal leadership style. “It comes
with a lot of hard work and dedication,” she said. “I’ve come to see the area I need to grow in as
a leader as well as ways I can improve myself.”
As an officer, Basa plans the homecoming skits and Powder Puff for the Class of 2019. Outside
of homecoming, Basa also works for the Annual Community Holiday event, which supports low-
income families. Outside of Armijo, Basa is also involved in Our Lady of Mt Carmel’s youth
ministry, The Army of God (TAG). “My faith and my religion are important to me. Sometimes, I
get busy and caught up on other things when I am not able to go to a meeting, but my heart is
always in it,” she said.
Basa’s favorite part of being an officer is watching her fellow leadership students develop.
“During the homecoming process, I have seen new people step up from previous years and it
brings me joy being able to see someone grow firsthand,” said Basa, “My objective is for the
junior class to work together and become closer. Hopefully, we can grow together as well as
individuals.”
However, being an officer is not without its challenges. “Being able to balance everything on my
plate is challenging because, at moments, it might feel as if I was spreading myself too thin,”
she said, “taking a step back once in a while and looking at my life helped me get on track.”
This year, Basa’s main priority is planning prom. “To plan a good prom our class needs money,
so that means we need to put in successful fundraisers,” she said, “Later in the year, we will
also be planning Powder Puff.”
If Basa could change anything about Armijo, she would change the culture of school
spiritedness and ask for more freedom from administration. “On social media, there are always
videos and pictures of other schools doing cool things which lead to people saying things like ‘I

wish our school was like this’ or ‘Why don’t we do anything like this?’” she said. “In reality,
Leadership puts on many amazing school events, like our student section. I just wish people
would give things a second chance.”
Basa hopes to spread a message of positivity with Armijo. “I have faith in myself to improve
because I know I have potential,” she said. “I also have faith in my class and the rest of the
school and I believe in all of us. Have faith!”