When most people move schools, they are nervous about what type of first impression they are going to make on their teachers and fellow classmates. This was a similar experience for senior Ashton Edwards when she moved to Bryan High School from Granbury, Texas during her junior year.

“I’m not going to lie, it was kind of hard to change high schools, but if you look at a situation and you just go in confident then it makes it easier,” Ashton said. “If anyone was moving to this school, I would give them the advice to be themselves and don’t worry about what other people think.”
Not only did Ashton recently move to Bryan High, but within a year, she became student body president.

“I love meeting new people and having input on something that can impact the entire school,” Ashton said. “Becoming student body president was a way for me to do that.”

Like all good things, there are issues and consequences that come with being heavily involved with Bryan High. Some of those concerns include Ashton being a part of multiple extra curricular activities, and how other students may perceive her.

“Moving into senior year, I thought people were going to look at me and think ‘Why is she student body president? She’s only been here for a year,’ and it made me a little bit nervous,” Ashton said. “I’m also in basketball and choir, so that’s a lot of stuff to put on my plate.”

As hard as it may seem, Ashton made the decision to try it anyways on her own without any outside persuasion.

“It was kind of my thing,” Ashton said. “I decided I was going to become student body president because it’s something I’ve always wanted to be.”

Student council sponsor John Anderson has seen Ashton as a leader in her role in student council from the day she placed her name on the ballot.

“I met her as soon as she applied for the position of being student body president,” Anderson said. “She jumped right into it and has done a great job. She’s shown a lot of initiative and has been very strong in the leadership role from day one.”

Ashtons role has helped people like senior class president Cassie Soto in planning events and keeping everyone on the same page during meetings.

“Ashton has helped me have more pride in student council itself because she gets so many things done and she does her work so well,” Cassie said. “It calms me down knowing someone like her is in charge.”

Ashton hopes that she’s able to use her leadership position to help others increase their school spirit and become more involved on campus.

“We don’t want anyone to have bad memories of high school,” Ashton said. “I would like everyone to feel like a family, be more involved, and make sure that high school years are some of the best years of my peer’s lives.”