CHS9 Student Council Secretary: Rudhmila Hoque

In September, CHS9 student Rudhmila Hoque was elected as the student council secretary. Outside of student council, Hoque enjoys coding, writing and acrylic painting.

What is your vision for this school year?

For the school year, I’m really about bringing people out of that dark time in [virtual learning] into a better mindset. A lot of people felt alone because we couldn’t go anywhere or be anywhere in person. Now that we are in person, there’s a huge shift, so we’re planning fun events for people to be more actively involved and be more social. 

Why did you run for secretary?

[Virtual learning] was a huge weight on students mentally and educationally, and I wanted to help with that. I felt like I did pretty well, but I know a lot of my friends didn’t. I was helping them through that, and I wanted to help a bigger audience. As secretary, I’m a bridge [between] the school administration and the student body. Through that, I can help people who bring up issues, such as bathroom sanitization and fun events to get more people involved and to get the student body more united. As secretary, yes, I keep things organized, but I am also a warm and friendly face for students to come up to and ask, ‘Hey, can we maybe think about doing this?’ Then we’d plan it and help people get through that hard time into a more uplifted one.

What is your favorite class?

My favorite class would probably be math or English. I know they’re complete opposites, but hear me out. For math, I really like when I’m solving a challenging problem, I finally get to the bottom of it and I’m like, ‘wait, I can actually do this.’ I can actually get through challenging stuff. It’s like an ego boost. In English, you get to write down all your feelings and analyze stuff. It’s really cool to just sit there and think deeper into things.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I’m very goal-oriented, so I have a clear [idea] of what I want to be in the future. I think about my future a lot, more than the present, which is pretty bad. I should live in the present. But in 10 years, I’ll be 24, so I’d be fresh out of college with a bachelor’s degree, hopefully in computer science. With that, I want to at least have a steady job. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, I just want to be able to keep myself safe and secure. It might be a stretch, but I want to own a house or apartment. I also want side projects, where I can keep myself entertained by indulging my hobbies.

Who or what is your inspiration?

[Can’t Help Myself, an artwork by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu.] It’s a really old piece of work, with this robot, which is all worn out. There’s a liquid around it that it’s trying to bring in. Usually you wouldn’t think about something like that, but I really resonated with it. I feel like it’s been going at it for so long. It’s determined to clean up all that liquid even though it’s unfeasible to bring it all together when there’s no place to dump it. One of the things people struggle with is determination and motivation, and I really like how [the artwork] symbolizes not giving up at any challenge.

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