Berkshire School provides various opportunities of leadership roles for students to take on great responsibilities–being a prefect is one of them. Helping students to be comfortable living on campus, prefects help provide a safe environment for students to thrive and challenge their potentials.

 In order to build a more representative and inclusive community, prefects are also accountable liaisons between the student body and the faculty. 

 Mia Lake ’20, the prefect of Mac, and Giang Le ’20, Head Prefect, share their experiences so far and give advice on how to become a stronger leader.

Green and Gray: Please introduce yourself

Mia Lake: Hi, I’m Mia Lake. I am a dual citizen of America and Jamaica. I have lived in Jamaica  my whole life, which is a third world country, so I have learnt to appreciate things that most people wouldn’t because of where I come from.

Giang Le: My name is Giang. I am from Vietnam. Some of my interests are music and tennis.

G&G: What motivated you to become a prefect?

ML: What motivated me the most was prefects in the past who I looked up to. I saw how they created a positive environment and a community. I want to be someone like that before I graduate.

G&G: What personal experiences have helped you become a better leader?

GL: Aside from holding leadership positions before, I think one experience that helps me the most is being a Ursa Minor captain because I figured out how to work with other students from all grades and trying to get them to perform together. In some way, that is my role as a prefect as well. 

G&G: Do you have a different perspective of school when you become a prefect?

GL: Definitely. I think that as a prefect, I become more aware of the issues that might arise at school and start noticing some of the smallest details. 

G&G: What are you planning to bring to the community?

ML: First, I plan on getting to know everyone in my dorm and helping them out whenever they need someone to talk to. For the greater community, I want to establish deeper connections with faculty and staff and be a bridge, making sure that everyone has their voice heard. 

GL: Working with the student council for the past three weeks has been really eye-opening for me because we have discussed a lot about low-hanging fruit stuff that we need to change right away and the bigger issues that are going on. For example, we are trying to get a shawn’s schedule going or just trying to make Saturday activities more engaging and fun for the students. 

Our essential goals are to  make our community stronger, try to include everyone, and have a better representation of the diversity of thoughts at Berkshire. 

G&G: What advice would you give to students who want to run for prefect next year?

ML: This is a hard one. If there is one bit of advice that I would give, it is definitely just be your true self. When it comes to the application process, write about what really matters to you and how you really like to give back to the community. Take everything seriously and understand that even if you aren’t elected as a prefect, no matter what leadership role you have, you are still just as important as anyone else. Basically, be a great person on campus. People will see that and you will make it work! 

GL: I would say it is to just be yourself. When it comes to the prefect application, if that is not who you are and what you’re passionate about, then that’s not a good fit for you. There are other opportunities and leadership positions you can take on that are also taken seriously here and we all work together as student council. So, no position is “lesser.” Go for what you are passionate about!