Going from school to school campaigning to students around the county for the Student Member of the Board is what Junior, Ishaan Srivastava was up to during the start of the school year. Ishaan ran for the FCPS Student Member of the Board and did well enough to be one of the final five candidates. When looking around Urbana High School it will be hard to spot somebody as focused and determined as Ishaan.

As one of the final five candidates of the Student Member of the Board position Ishaan recalled the venture as a “wonderful experience.” He credited all of the amazing people that he got to meet, all of the lessons that he was able to learn along the way, and how amazing it was visiting schools from around the county campaigning. He wanted to serve as the ex officio Student Member of the Board, mainly because he has always felt strongly about both delaying school start times, and expanding the financial aid program. After researching the position more he decided to give it a shot, so he began his candidacy. When talking about what he learned from this experience he said, “I learned the importance of showing compassion to people.” He also added, “Meeting students from so many backgrounds really emphasized the importance of supporting our peers.” He feels that all students should have their voices and their struggles heard. When asked how he will use what he learned going forward he responded, “I definitely got better at public speaking, and I want to use this to help me in the professional world, and help me address large crowds in the future.” He did end up losing the Student Member of the Board position, but he still told me that he would “advocate for some important student issues to the board as a student of FCPS.” When talking about whether or not he would recommend underclassmen to run for the Student Member of the Board position, he responded, “Absolutely!” He said that it is a great opportunity that everybody should give a try.

Outside of school he has some pretty standard hobbies, he likes to watch basketball, hang out with friends, and he even cooks sometimes. He said that his perfect life would include him: having good grades this school year, getting a good internship this summer, and he also brought up how he always wanted to vacation to Cape Town, South Africa. Recently in school he has felt most passionate about economics as he finds it to be the most relatable on a day-to-day basis. He is still undecided on what his future holds but he thinks he may want to find something in economics or business, and hopes to study it at one of his dream schools, Georgetown or Yale. Whether he does something in economics or business, or if he goes to one of those schools we can be sure with his level of determination he will succeed at whatever he tries.