Being the Class President is a dream for a lot of students. However, few get to live that dream. Most class presidents run for the said role for popularity reasons, but only a small handful do it for the actual change they want to make. Senior Vanessa Lopez falls into that small handful. 

“I do it because I want to have a change. It’s not just about the title. Yeah, the title is cool, but at the same time, if you want to have such a big position like this, you have to make the change and not just do it because you want to be cool,” Lopez said. 

She is in this position to be there for those who can’t make a change themselves. 

“I’m excited to bring a voice to those who don’t have a voice. I feel like these students feel like they have no say in things, but me having this position, I want to show them and prove to them that I can be their voice. I can do things that they would want,” Lopez said. 

Having the responsibility of being the voice for the entire student body is bittersweet. 

“Honestly it’s nerve-wracking. I feel like it’s such a big responsibility, but I’m really glad and excited. It is a lot of pressure because I don’t want to make the wrong choice, but at the same time, it’s a surreal feeling,” Lopez said.

The main goal she wants to reach this year is to bring a sense of unity back to the campus. The feeling of family faded away after the year 2020, and it hasn’t been the same since. 

“I want to get every class: the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors to come together. I feel like we need to bring back our Rocket Pride and show that we as a school are one. In the past years, everyone felt so separated because of COVID-19, or because of other situations,” Lopez said

Normalcy is what she hopes to achieve this year, to also impact future years. 

“I know COVID-19 was a long time ago, but it’s still coming back. It pushed a lot of people back. I just want to feel normal. I want everything to feel normal, and give us that high school experience that is so talked about.”

For most, the future is scary, yet it is inevitable. However, this responsibility has prepared Lopez for the unavoidable future. 

“[This role] prepares me to take charge. I used to be that person that would like to sit back and be behind the scenes. But now, this gives me a bigger opportunity to just be myself, show myself, and make decisions based on the bigger picture, not just focusing on the little things,” Lopez said. 

Long-term, Lopez still has a couple of decisions to make for her future. It’s a matter of doing what she wants, versus what everyone wants her to do to be successful. 

“I want to be a NICU nurse or work in some medical field. To me, it doesn’t matter what, but I’m rooting for either a NICU nurse or an ultrasound tech. If not, I want to become an Air Force pilot. Those are two completely different things, but I feel like I have to do what I think is good. Personally, if I could, I would be in the Air Force, but if that doesn’t work out, then I have a backup plan,” Lopez said.

As a whole, Lopez hopes to revive the family we have created at Judson High School as Judson Rockets. “I feel like we weren’t pushing for the greater good. We were just leaving it as it is, not wanting to be more and do more, as a school. I just wanted everyone to join together and be like we were.” Lopez said. The student body is excited to see what Lopez has in store for this school year.