This week’s Farmer Focus is on senior Donovan Smith, Junior World Affairs Council’s president. He and the other officers are focused on growing the club by providing a sense of community and organizing events about interesting topics.
SNAPSHOTS
Character you’d like to be for a day: The Flash
If you could meet any person, alive or dead, who would it be: Jackie Robinson
Most underrated food: Rice
What song do you think should play when you enter a room: “Headlines” by Drake
Favorite season: Spring
ZOOMING IN
Q: What is JWAC?
A: “Junior World Affairs Council is a club where we discuss global issues and impactful things to our community and beyond. We focus on issues like global warming, immigration and tariffs. People from all around the world come and speak about their jobs and their day-to-day lives. We also have two major events: the international career day and World Quest. The International career day is held at UTA annually, and people from all around the world come and speak about their jobs and their day-to-day lives. Our second big event is Academic World Quest, and that’s where we take two teams of four to compete against about 80 other high schools in the area on academic questions. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea sometimes, but it’s a super great opportunity to learn about all different topics. Lastly if you win regional, you actually get a chance to go to Washington D.C. and compete nationally. Unfortunately, we didn’t go to nationals last year, but I’m hoping this year we’ll do better.”
Q: How would you like to improve JWAC this year?
A: “The big thing for me is expanding the club. We started off small, but we are hoping to make it bigger by the end of this year and to get more people involved. My other biggest thing is for people to directly think of JWAC when they see me.”
Q: As the president of a growing club, how do you balance being a leader and a student?
A: “It’s hard, I’m not going to lie because I have a job too. Honestly, just understanding I have to buckle down and do what needs to be done. Whether it’s staying up past midnight to lock in on JWAC stuff, coming home after practice, or even before practice during my lunch. Honestly, for me, the key is good time management skills. Also, I have great officers in my club I can rely on.”
Q: What goals would you like to achieve for JWAC by the end of the school year?
A: “I want to place in the top 25 in the Academic World Quest, and I want to grow the club.”
Q: What is something that makes JWAC stand out more than the other clubs in the school?
A: “This is going to sound kind of narcissistic so I apologize in advance, but I think as the president, I bring a different kind of flair and a different vibe to the club. I want it to be a tight knit group; I want everyone to know each other and be friends, not just inside of JWAC, but also outside of JWAC too.”
Q: How do meetings typically go?
A: “We have our meetings on Thursdays, one before school and one after school. I typically host the one before school because that’s what fits my schedule. And my other two officers host the after school one. Meetings are super laid back. We basically do traditional meetings like slideshow presentations kind of deal, where we inform our members of our upcoming events.”
Q: How do you manage your officers for them to stay on task?
A: “I really don’t have to. Like I said earlier, I love my officers and I truly mean it. I truly appreciate them because they put in a lot of work. [They do] stuff I don’t even see and I don’t think of. They beat me to the punch on a lot of occasions, and I’m super grateful for that. It’s almost to a degree they keep me in line because they’re so good.”
Q: What is one thing you believe that makes you a good leader?
A: “I think what makes me a good leader is my transparency. I think it’s my biggest strength and also my biggest weakness because if you ask me a question, I’m not going to lie, I’m going to tell the truth whether it’s good or bad. I don’t appreciate not telling the truth, especially to my fellow officers and members. So whether it’s good, bad or ugly, I’m going to say what I truly think.”
Q: What is one thing you think is challenging as a leader?
A: “I feel like it’s going to be organization. It’s kind of basic, but when you’re running a club with a bunch of officers and members, it can be hard sometimes. We recently faced a dilemma because members were not responding to attendance emails for extracurricular events. So, that was the biggest issue I’ve had being a leader right now for JWAC. I call it wrangling the cattle kind of deal, right? You know, herding the cows. That’d be my biggest difficulty so far.”
Q: What advice would you like to give any aspiring juniors who will want to be an officer in the future?
A: “The biggest piece of advice I would give is follow your heart kind of deal. Your heart’s going to guide you in the right way more times than not. If you have a strong feeling toward anything, whether it’s good or bad, listen to your heart, go where you think you want to go and do what you think you want to do.”
