Experience As The Head Girl
My name is Okunrinboye Simisola, and I was the outgoing Head Girl of NOWA Secondary School, New Karshi. For the past year and a half, I have been fortunate enough to be the Head Girl of this great institution. Being the Head Girl has been a great experience, it has been such an honor to work with the other prefects in representing the student body and also to give back to the school that has supported me through my education and shaped me into the individual I am today. I won’t lie and say the experience was easy, because there were times I thought I couldn’t do it or that I wasn’t the right one for the post, especially during the initial stage. It was difficult at times to balance the responsibilities of the position with my everyday study life especially the educational aspect, but the pressure made me grow even more as a leader and the support, encouragement and assistance from my fellow prefects enabled me to push through.
One of the most challenging aspect of being the Head Girl was finding a way to respectfully lead a group of peers that you also have to interact with daily outside of your leadership role, especially when those you are leading are also good friends. Finding the line between friendship and leadership was difficult belt but over the course of the year, I feel I was been able to find a balance between the two.
How did you cope with the challenges?
Despite the challenging times, there were some things that made it all worthwhile such as having the opportunity to positively impact the school community which has shaped me into who I am today and having the opportunity to interact with some amazing people around the school community that I would have never had the chance to if not for the position.
How did you feel when doing your duties as a Head Girl?
One thing that brought me great joy was seeing our hard work show in the effective running of the school. Even though atime controlling the students to do the right thing was quite challenging, I didn’t let that discourage me from performing my duties efficiently.
In addition to performing duties and collaborations with other prefects, you’ve handed over a great position to the next Head Girl. What are some of the values you’d advise her and other prefects to attain in successful running of the school activities?
The Head Boy and I handed our position to Ajibola and Kunmi who are both amazing people and leaders. The best advise that I can give them would be to not be afraid to ask people for help when the responsibilities seems overwhelming, prefects and set mates alike. Throughout this year(2021/2022), they will be faced with great expectations, including, their own, balancing school work, prefect duties and life in general. Despite this pressure they should always remember that there are people around them, that are there to help.
They have so many resources available including set mates, prefects, teachers, personnel, hostel patrons and matrons etc. There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help.
What does it mean to be a prefect?
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility! Being a prefect means that a lot of students are under your care, and it is the duty of all prefects to ensure that their juniors are well behaved, clean, and also learn good ethics that will help them improve their life style towards school activities, their studies and cleanliness of their environment and most especially themselves.
What have been some of the more significant hurdles or setbacks you’ve faced as a prefect?
In many ways, this applies to all prefects and the students of the school. There are certainly times throughout school life that are stressful and you feel like giving up but if they seek help when needed, remain optimistic and work hard, they will reap the benefits.
Conclusions
In all, I want to thank the NOWA community for this opportunity and for helping me grow, both as a leader and an individual, over the course of my time in school.
