SAN JOSE CALIF.—Silver Creek High School’s dedicated treasurer Hillary Huynh, dives deeper into how and why she stays involved in the school, despite the stress it might bring. 

In counting, this is Huynh’s third year in Erik Coloma’s Leadership class, being part of the Associated Student Body commission, as well as being an officer for three clubs. During freshman orientation, she filled out an application form to get into Leadership, then applied for the role of class officer for class of 2026. 

Leadership is a class elective for all students to take, and is split into different commissions, each with their own section to manage. ASB is responsible for managing anything related to the students. During her freshman year Huynh was the class officer for class of 2026, moved on to being vice president during her sophomore year, and is now class treasurer of ASB.

Huynh takes on the role of overseeing the entire school and manages the funding for clubs, class departments, or sports. Anything finance related, Huynh is there to take action. When a club or department wants funding for an event or activity, they must fill out a request form where Huynh’s responsibility is to oversee that there’s enough funds in the account. Additionally, if clubs want to have a fundraiser, they must send in a request form as well, where it is Huynh’s job to schedule the fundraisers accordingly to ensure that multiple clubs aren’t selling on the same day. She looks over the forms, signs off, then hands them to Coloma for the final approval. 

Huynh says that she’s always wanted to be a part of ASB since her freshman year, but the role is technically not available until a student is an upperclassman. She worked her way up by staying as a student in Leadership because she liked being able to oversee the entire school, and not just one class. Despite the crazy workload, she admires getting students to enjoy school through these spirited events that she’s able to run and even participate in. 

Being a part of Leadership is a great way for students to get out of their comfort zone and feel connected with the school. It’s a great way to meet and work with new people and everyone’s different working methods and is “overall a really fun and spirited class. You’ll get close to everyone by spending a lot of time with everyone when working on planning school events.” said Huynh. 

Considering that Leadership is made up of over 60 people in one class with so many different personalities, there can be some clashing at times, but it really urges students to be able to work together despite their differences. It’s a great way to get used to working fast and through tough situations. “It’s a bit scary if you’re shy,” says Huynh, “but you learn how to branch out because of how energetic the class is!” Huynh’s friendly reminder is to prioritize Leadership, especially when extra work hours are required after school or during lunch. Although it may feel like an extracurricular, it’s an actual class that you have to sacrifice your time for every once in a while. 

Additionally, Huynh takes on the roles of  treasurer for Interact, a club focused on services and volunteering, treasurer for Polyneasian club and Co-President for Hope Hearted, an organization that makes hygiene kits for unhoused and low income communities. She’s been a part of these clubs since her freshman year and has stayed in them because it gives her something to look forward to. “I look at my school year by seeing which month has which events, and it makes school so much more enjoyable for me. I find joy in working and hanging out with these people, as well as giving back to the community.” said Huynh. 

Managing the workload of these activities while balancing school work presents a struggle to her motivation, most especially during this year as a junior where grades are more serious and there’s major testing involved. Going into semester two, Huynh would rather spend her time studying for her classes instead of looking over forms, so she must decide what to prioritize her time in. 

Huynh encourages students to apply for ASB or any commission in Leadership because it’s a fun and meaningful experience, regardless of the work. It gives students the opportunity to learn about themselves and genuinely become a better leader and thinker by experiencing different types of situations. It’s a great way to feel more involved in the school and its events. On the day of, Huynh forgets all about the stress and just enjoys these fun high school experiences. 

“Don’t feel scared to join Leadership considering it’s an application process, because it’s overall a super fun and interactive class to be in.” she adds. “We have banquets throughout the year, bondings, traditions, a secret santa gift exchange, and an end of the year banquet to celebrate our seniors!”

Huynh has been doing student council and ASB ever since she was able to. For the next year, she aspires to remain in the clubs she’s in right now, and become ASB’s president to pursue a goal that she’s had since her elementary school days. 

She strongly encourages younger classmen to put in the effort to do the same if they really want to. From an outside perspective it may seem like it’s a lot to manage, but if you truly enjoy highly spirited events and working with other students, that should be your main motivation in doing so.