Hannah Biccard ’22 sat down with departing all-school presidents Keren Mikanda ’21 and Cyrus Farman-Farmaian ’21 to ask them about their challenges and favorite moments from the past year. 

What were your favorite moments from your time as all-school presidents?

Mikanda: My favourite part is the starting and ending of every Stu-Fac, which makes me sentimental. It might be a weird space to be bonding, but I think I have formed good relationships there. I appreciate that students and faculty are able to communicate about how to make the school better. 

Farman-Farmaian: For me it was when we have accomplished stuff, even really small things that people have been asking for, and we were able to get it done, and you could tell how happy it made everybody. Having people come up to you and say, “Thank you so much for doing that, this is so much better,” was a great experience. Those little comments really help and they remind us of what we are doing and who we are doing it for. 

How has all-school presidency helped you grow as a person?

Mikanda: It has helped me develop better leadership, organization, and communication skills, as well as take on more responsibility. Because there are a lot of people relying on you, the role of all-school president has taught me how to stand up for myself and others and how to organize and delegate tasks. 

What was the biggest challenge you faced?

Farman-Farmaian: We have had to compromise and focus almost 100% on COVID-19. There have been a lot of times when we went to the administration with ideas that we thought were reasonable, but we got a no [because of COVID-19 restrictions]. Bringing those messages back to students and having them be frustrated with us – probably understandably, because we weren’t getting things done, even though they didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes – was the hardest part.

What parting words and advice would you give to the Senior class and the next all-school presidents, Sydney Goldstein ’22 and Izhaar Rosa ’22?

Mikanda: My advice to the Senior class would be to be as present as possible and soak up every moment. It is scary how fast things go by, and it is very easy just to get caught up in wishing days away to get to the weekend. I know that I have been trying to enjoy the weekdays and classes more, because I realize that I have more of those than weekends. For Sydney and Izhaar – talk to and get to know as many people as possible. Being an all-school president is a great opportunity to meet and interact with a lot of people that you may not have known before, and form relationships and bonds. 

Farman-Farmaian: Throw yourself into this place. Appreciate the moments you can create for yourself. Appreciate the people who are around you and the place that we are in, because it’s never going to be replicated once you leave. For Izhaar and Sydney – this year obviously has been one of the weirdest years ever. Coming out of it, there is going to be so much more opportunity to not only bring back the things that we once had,  but also for change and new things – whether that be changing the academic and exam schedule, working on new rules for interdorming, sleepovers, the larger rules such as the no chance policy, etc. Coming out of this year, there is so much that we can do by using everything we tore down to build a lot of new stuff, and I really hope that Sydney and Izhaar will be able to do that.