Life West students have elected a quartet of their peers to serve on the Student Council Executive Board. Candidates made their final campaign stops on stage at Life West’s most recent Friday seminar, before the election took place last week.
A trio of incumbent Student Council officers ran for spots on the board. All three will remain in prominent roles. Ashley Gonzales, Student Council’s secretary and vice president in prior terms, was elected to serve as the organization’s next president.
“I’m in quarter 10, and my cohorts know that means a lot of clinic time and a lot of tests,” Gonzales said during her presentation to fellow students at seminar. “I still don’t want to be anywhere else. I want to be here, helping to make this experience as positive as possible for everyone.”
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- Ashley Gonzales
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- Sagi Hebron
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- Sophia Grandstaff
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- Aanand Sharma
Gonzales, who helped organize the Making HERstory event and the school’s annual backpack drive, defeated Heinrich Henstock in the election. Henstock will stay on as the student body’s athletics coordinator.
The Student Council vice president role will be filled by Sagi Hebron, who was elected as the Student Council’s secretary last summer. He ran for vice president as an unopposed candidate. Among other goals, he expressed an interest in working with faculty member and Friday seminar lead Ankur Tayal, DC, to bolster the lineup of guest speakers at the college and provide a well-rounded experience for Life West students.
“I’d like to diversify the speakers,” Hebron said when addressing the vice presidential duties pertaining to Friday seminar. “That’s going to take a lot of work, and I know that. My goal is to create an experience at Friday seminar that produces FOMO, which stands for ‘fear of missing out,’ because there’s a lot to learn from these people.”
With Hebron moving to a different spot on the Executive Board, a pair of candidates contested the position of secretary. Fourth-quarter student Sophia Grandstaff won the election over Jonathan Kuzichev. She said in her presentation that she wanted to advocate for others.
“I’ve kind of been doing this a long time,” Grandstaff said. “I’ve always cared about where I’m at. I care about the institution that’s turning me into a doctor patients can trust. You should take pride in the place that’s turning you into a chiropractor.”
Finally, Student Council treasurer Aanand Sharma ran unopposed for that position and was elected to a second term. He expressed a continued desire to use funds allocated for Student Council in the best possible manner, which includes an upcoming remodel of the Life West cafeteria.
“It’s my job to put together a budget at the beginning of each quarter and make sure Student Council is aware of what it looks like,” Sharma said. “We’re going to keep spending every nickel we can to support the student body.”
Friday’s seminar was moderated by outgoing Student Council president Max Kelly. Kelly has served in that position for two terms and was quick to praise the ambition of the candidates who ran for office.
“Your classmates sacrifice time every week to serve you when they could be in clubs or in clinic,” he said. “That’s a big deal. If you see them, thank them.”
