Q&A: SGA Candidate Tony Gupta

Devil’s Advocate: What is the main platform of your campaign as SGA president?

Tony Gupta: The main platform of my campaign obviously would be to unite all of the classes, but more importantly I want to bring everyone up. Like I was saying during the debate, everyone has this amazing potential that we see in them. I just feel like sometimes that’s not recognized. So I want to highlight often underappreciated areas such as brain brawl. It’s the first example that can come to mind because I am a part of it. We’ve been district champions for quite a few years running now. We have a varsity and junior varsity division. We don’t receive any of the same attention that sports teams do, we are actually competing nationals right now. Another thing, I want to establish a film festival because the film kids, the senior IB film course. That consists mostly of just making films. I’ve seen a couple of them from my friends who are in them now. They’re great and I’m so proud of all of them and I just feel like a platform upon which they could showcase that would be validating in the same way as hearing your name called on Live on Five for scoring a goal is. I want to do the same thing,not just for film, but I also want to start an art exhibitions. I want to start projects that I feel like would highlight these areas but at the same time aren’t such a burden to the school  financially or in terms in red tape that they’re impossible. I want to rock the boat but there’s not boat to rock if you dismantle the whole thing. You have to work on pieces.

DA: Why did you decide to run for SGA president?

TG: Well, I decided to run for SGA president because I’ve wanted to since freshman year. I wanted to hold class office and be able to impact change in the student body because I really do enjoy helping people. There’s nothing like the pleasure you get when someone says, ‘That really helped thank you.’ They’re able to get on with their lives more easily. I feel like with SGA president I can do that at scale. It’s a way to help the most people at the quickest pace and since freshman year, I’ve been friends with all of the SGA presidents. They’re all great people and all deserving of the position. I want to be like them. They are some of my idols. I feel like they embody what it means to be a Stantonian. To me, the definition of a Stantonian is the renaissance man who is good at everything. This ties back to what I want Stanton to be known for is everything.

DA: What prior experience do you have in student government?

TG: Aside from auxiliary jobs, I filmed the pep rally, that was a class project. I’ve ran every year but I haven’t been elected. I do have leadership experience. I did the pep rally video for our class, I helped out with the video for the step team that aired on Live on Five. I shot and edited part of it. For multi this year, both of the videos we put out, I shot and edited those entirely. I’m running for the PR position for multi next year.

DA: What parts of Stanton need the most improvement?
TG: I feel like inter-class relations and relations between the student body and admin need the most improvement. I feel like admin itself works effectively because they’re trying to do what they can to keep us safe. Also, sometimes we clash but sometimes it’s not in their hands, but the decision of their superiors. So they can’t even if they want to do something else. I know teachers who wish they could do things certain ways but they can’t because it’s not their decision to make. I feel like I want to better that bridge, reinforce it and I feel like that way to do that is communication, discourse, and eventually compromise. As much as I would like for students to have every single thing they want, that would come at the cost of that relationship, which would only ultimately lead to harm.

DA: Say a situation would arise among admin and student government, would you side with admin for the benefit of the student body?

TG: “I feel like that depends from event to event. If it’s something that I feel like could really genuinely help the student body then I would try my best to, without it coming to conflict, explain the position of students to admin. I would be open minded and listen to what they’re saying, sort of like the debate.”

DA: How would you describe the process for running for SGA president?

TG: Surprisingly, it’s not as difficult as I thought it would be. We had to apply, we had to make the application. I thought that helped because it essentially is a succinct summation of my platform. It helped me to get all my ideas that I have been slowly putting in the back of my head for the past three years that allowed me to finally write them down, to realize what I believe in and what I want to do. Since then, all I’ve been doing is talking to former presidents and class officers. More people who have roles in Stanton community, like multi officers. I talk a lot to step captain, he obviously knows a lot about leadership and discipline aspect of Stanton. It obviously takes good leadership skills to run such a tight ship. Just reaching out to current community leaders and the past weekend I’ve been making posters. It’s not a ridiculous amount of work but forces you to be creative.

DA: How do you intend to help the incoming freshman feel more welcome next year?

TG: There’s the stigma of roasting. I feel like I would want to emphasize that it’s good natured. It’s not bullying. It’s just kind of ranking on them in a brotherly or sisterly way. It’s good natured we want to see them succeed. It’s our way of teaching them our own sense of humor. If one of them asks for help, we don’t turn them down. The other candidates and everyone in the higher classes. If they need help, we of course help them.

DA: What are your intentions to further ideas for mental health week?

TG: Like I was saying the debate, I want to expand it. It shouldn’t just be a week. In society, I don’t feel like Black History should be a month, it should be all history appreciated every single day of the year. I feel like women’s rights should be appreciated every single day of the year as opposed to just March or February for Black History Month. I feel like mental health should be emphasized throughout the entire year. Maybe a week where guest speakers or dress up days, where we take quiet time in class every single day, that might be a good idea to highlight that we care about mental health. There should be that underlying care the entire year. It should not be implied that Stanton cares about its students, it should be overtly stated. A student should know if they need help, they can reach out to another student, to guidance, to the psychiatrist. It should be emphasized every single day that we care about them, their friends care about them, and we just want them to care about themselves. We want them to succeed, but not at the cost of their health. What use to someone is success is without happiness. I understand for AP courses, there is a lot of studying... It would help for students who do extracurricular activities, they could just pop in for 15 minutes to study, maybe they’re waiting for their mom to pick them up after their club is done. At the very least, maybe leaving a room open where students could self study individually or in a group. Maybe even if there’s not a teacher there, they’re still getting to study. It’s not them huddled over in the seats outside the auditorium with the books on their lap. Things to help make their work life easier. Balance between things they want to do, like sports and multi, and things they have to do, like homework.

DA: What experience or qualities do you have that may set you apart from the other candidates?

TG: My experience over the past two years have set creative roots. If you compare it to a plant perhaps, freshman year putting the plant in the grass. Sophomore year was waiting for it to sprout. This year for me has been deeply entrenching myself in the programs we have here, academic and extracurricular. Coming to good relationships with my teachers, past and present. By next year, I hope for it to be something like an oak tree, where its durable and timeless. I feel like this year I’ve become incredibly involved at Stanton. I’ve tried my best to be actively inclusive, with all of the classes, making friends with freshman. My brother is in eighth grade, I’ve been making friends with his friends, they’re all coming here next year. Just opening myself up to everyone and making myself as easy to approach as possible so that people know that if they need help, I want it to be known that it's there for them. I’ve been doing that on a personal scale and with SGA, I want to do that on a systematic, school wide scale.

DA: How has the campaign for SGA president affected your relationships with the other candidates so far?

TG: I feel like it’s a little early, but I feel like already I have started coming to a better appreciation of them. I’ve been friends with Craig since sophomore year, maybe a little of freshman year. He’s always been very personable and so I appreciate that he’s able to use that and I get to see it in action. Cole Yaffee too, I don’t know him as well as I’d like to, but I would say we’re in between acquaintances and friends. He’s also very personable, for example the twitter jokes he makes. Sameh I would say is incredibly polished and I can tell he has good ideas. He cares about his position. It allows me to come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of who these people are.

DA: What major difference do you hope to make during your time as SGA president if you are elected?

TG: My platform is founded upon making everybody feel recognized for their talents because everyone here has talents so I feel like the thing that I would want to do most would be highlighting our academics. Like science bowl, history bowl, youth and government, brain brawl, highlighting them on Live on Five the same way we do with the news. The film festival and art exhibition, I feel like those would be the most essential because that’s what I truly want, that’s what I founded my platform on, is making everyone feel acknowledged.

DA: How do you plan to manage the responsibilities of schoolwork and being SGA president, if elected?

TG: I feel like I’m pretty durable. From what I’ve heard, this year is the most difficult year. Senior year, it levels off a little bit, I’ll still have a lot of work, I’ll be taking IB Physics and Chemistry and Physics C next year. It’ll be a fair amount of work, but at the same time, I’m getting better at managing it myself and if we’re able to implement making mental health a bigger focus at our school and making the work life balance more manageable balance, I feel like that would affect me too. I am a student, I’m not above anyone. More than ever, if I get elected, I’m not above someone, I would be the voice of the people, so whatever happens to them, happens to me too. I am not separate, I’m one of them. Obviously this would be a priority, fortunately, I do well in my classes, I don’t have to put in as much work to do well in a class, the gift of memory, I suppose. I’m a quick study, so I feel like that’s something that would help me in the position too. I’m a quick learner, I figured out After Effects in maybe one week and I’ve been using it nonstop this entire year. I feel like not only would this enable me to quickly learn what an SGA president needs to do on the job. Being a quick study has its advantages in my academic life, so I am able to adapt whether I have a lot of work or a little amount of work, I can adapt, I am very flexible. This would be the priority, academics maybe affects just me, SGA would affect everyone so I would obviously place the greater priority on everyone else. I wouldn’t let my grades suffer, but I would take priority, if something needed to get done, that would get done first.

DA: What is something that you want other students to know about you as an individual?

TG: I want students to take away that I am here for them. I shouldn’t be someone who is difficult to approach. I want them to know that I am devoted to them and I am devoted to Stanton’s community and environment and highlighting everyone or improving aspects that need to be improved. I want people to know that very genuinely, I care. I don’t want there to be a doubt in their mind whether I care or not.