Being able to recognize our hard working students for their passion and dedication is what our jobs are all about! As we travel to each of our three Student Showcase recipient schools from the State Conference, we also wanted to take the time and hear from the students as to what this competition meant to them. As your young leaders look ahead to new opportunities, share the following feedback on our Showcase competition and help prepare them for competing next year! 

Conversation with Zhane Yamin, senior Northville High School

1. Why is it important for student groups to share their voice and programming with fellow student leaders across the state?

I think it’s important in general to connect with fellow like minded people and share ideas. I believe that innovation is sparked from connection and when student leaders are able to get together and share and edit their ideas together, then new and improved programs can be made. 

2. What was your favorite part about presenting your showcase session during this year’s competition? 

My favorite part about presenting our showcase at this year’s states’ was answering questions from the student leaders. I really enjoyed hearing about the successes and struggles of student leaders all throughout the state, and how their challenges were similar to ours.

3. How did your group prepare for the presentation? (so other groups can gain a little insight for next year)

We prepared for our presentation by figuring out what we wanted to convey. We wanted to do our very best to make our presentation useful and engaging, so we made sure to emphasize the main idea of our presentation (connecting our older students with our younger ones) and adding a lot of personal flair to the presentation. 

4. How did presenting at States together impact you as a group?

We definitely were able to take a microscope to our own event and really analyze it after it happened. We also were able to come together as a group and really see our strengths as leaders and presenters, and how the leadership chemistry between us could help with not just our presentation, but also with future events.

5. Has your council decided how it will allocate the $1,000 scholarship from the SET SEG foundation? 

We have not decided specifically how we want to use our one thousand dollar scholarship, but we know that we want to use it for the same purpose our program (freshmen orientation) served. We want to use it to strengthen the bonds between the students in our student body and give back to the community that makes everything possible for us