All-rounder Sophie at your service as board rep

Sophie's a nerd. A funny, bold, outgoing nerd, but a nerd all the same. And this year, she's also our board rep.

I've known Sophie since the start of intermediate, when we first became friends. She's lost the bangs, but not the savior complex. It's there for a reason though. Five years, and no teacher we've ever had has thought of her as less than a saint. Still, I suppose she's earned her reputation. 

In class she takes so many notes I'm almost sure her hand is going to fall off, she's always asking about some tangent topic that she wants to know more about, and she's never once failed an exam. You could call her hard-working, curious and successful, but I prefer to sum that all up in one word: overachiever.

She's always participating and taking on more roles at Nayland. I haven't any idea how she does it. In Year 9 we decided to go for Aquila house captains together. I found it so horribly boring, and probably turned up to a total of three meetings over the year. Sophie however, found the role quite rewarding, and, of course, she was brilliant at it. 

She's been a house captain two more times since, as well as being on the student council and an Aquila house leader this year (sure, it's not confirmed yet, but let's be real). She's also a Drama Company leader, a member of the girls' choir, has a part in this year's musical, and is involved in the Big Brother Big Sister program. With all that, it's hard for her to keep up with family and friends. "They're great though," she said. "They tell me when I need to chill out."

Sophie's quite enjoying being board rep, and she's really appreciative of everyone who voted for her. "I was quite happy, there were so many candidates so I had no idea who was going to get it," she said. Look at her acting all polite! She was over the moon. 

As board rep it's up to her to remind everyone "that in the end it is about the students" and that should be reflected in all choices made for the school. Her responsibility means she has to turn up to a bunch of meetings and do a couple presentations, but it does have its perks. It's a job as much as any other so she's paid, there’s free food, and she also got the opportunity to go on a Spirit of Adventure trip for student leaders all over New Zealand.

So if you ever need to find Sophie to talk about school issues, it's a simple matter of checking the Performing Arts Center, music room 1, hall, meeting room, deans’ office, all of her six classrooms, and then repeating. Or maybe just email her. Either way, you can be certain that she's doing a bloody good job as your board rep.