Senior Class President Ahana Bhat balances her academic school work with her duties as president of 2023. She has helped the senior class in so many ways by organizing countless events to ensure that the class of ‘23 is able to reminisce over their high school years. She gets her inspiration from other people and her past experiences. As a senior, she wants to bring back old memories to her classmates.

“Bittersweet is definitely the best word to describe it,” said Bhat. It’s so weird to think that it’s already senior year. I remember walking in and doing my first class president election and now we’re nearing the end.

Being the class president all four years of high school, Bhat has learned a couple things during her journey such as how to work in a group setting and listen to others’ ideas. In the past, she frequently asked others in her class for their opinions to plan events. But with being in five AP classes, Bhat has figured out how to manage her time wisely during the past couple years.

“I try to make sure I am giving equal time to all my commitments,” said Bhatt. “For class president, I always set aside my enrichments and make sure I am not doing anything else that day. Whenever I am doing something for class president, I make sure to put my complete focus so I don’t have to worry later.”

Working with a team and being Class President has been really rewarding for Bhat because she has been able to see the class grow each year from being freshmen. Seeing the Polar Express night on Dec. 5 go from being an idea to an event that was able to become an enjoyable and memorable moment for a lot of seniors was an achievement for Bhat. Although she has had gratifying moments as Class President, Bhat has faced some struggles in the past.

“A lot of people would misconstrue my actions by saying I was trying to become Class President for power and it was really sad for me because I want to do stuff to help our class,” said Bhatt. “That’s why I try to stay out of conflicts with people and focus on what I want to do for the class instead of trying to resolve conflicts.”

The best advice Bhat has for current and future class presidents is making it fun for the class as well as keeping the class updated so they do not miss out on events. She also advises finding any opportunity to plan events like the Polar Express nights, which Bhat wants to become a tradition at Tompkins for future seniors because it is a fun night for all the seniors to get together.