Sleep for 10 hours, school for seven hours, meetings for three hours, sports for two hours, homework for two hours, clubs for two hours, running for two hours… how does Hope fit it all in a 24 hour day? 

Sophomore Vice President Hope Safai juggles an intricate life while managing to stay on top of her education. As class vice president, Safai involves herself behind the scenes of what makes the school so great. This school year, she has worked with Class of 2023 President Max Choi overseeing projects and fundraisers for the school. Due to the communication struggles of a virtual world, “We have been more active on social media and gotten more students engaged and caught up with what’s going on,” Safai said.

Safai spent the beginning of the school year planning merch to sell to students, including masks, sweatshirts, T-shirts, and sweatpants. Though, like most things in 2020, it had to be cancelled due to safety issues with sales distribution. “It was really disappointing to see all Max’s and my hard work go to waste, but I understand that it was the safer decision,” Safai said.

Nonetheless, Safai and Choi have made beneficial changes to normal class activities, making them virtually possible. This year, students learned dances on Zoom, and will be recording them to make one larger video to present on Puttin’ on the Hits (POTH) night. “Last year, we could laugh together and talk and have more time to practice but now it’s harder to do the things we used to not even realize and it can be really difficult to choreograph the dances on Zoom,” Choi said.

In addition to the POTH competition, Safai and Choi worked to organize an alternative to the homecoming float competition. They instead did a “quarantine room competition,” which was amongst grades, and the Class of 2023 placed second. “This was a great way for Hope and me to direct our first class event, and for us to get to know the class better,” Choi said.

Safai also spends her time working on her foundation that she created called International Sports for All. She started this with her brother Dylan Safai as a way to give back to the community. “We collect sports equipment and give it to kids in need,” Safai said.

Sophomore Zara Okudo spends lots of her time doing sports and activities with her friend Safai. They like to practice soccer together and work on their skills. “Because the soccer season was virtual, we decided to hold safe outside-of-school practices for the two of us, so we could stay on our game for the next season,” Okudo said.

Okudo and Choi both agree that Safai is a strong leader. While Okudo watches it on the field, Choi watches it in the classroom. “Hope is amazing at keeping organized, and always she reminds me to get my work done,” Choi said.