Junior Matthew Piccirillo, Vice President

The Red Ledger: Why did you choose to run for an officer position?

Matthew Piccirillo: My first year of NHS will be this year. I have a lot of friends, including my twin sister, in NHS. I have heard a lot of frustrations from the NHS body, and they are unhappy with a lot of things going on. I went to my first meeting last week, and I think there’s a lot of improvements that could be made, and I could be impactful as a NHS officer.

TRL: What specific goals do you have for the future of NHS? What can be improved?

MP: One thing I really want to focus on is Relay For Life. It’s a really great cause. It raises awareness for people who are battling cancer, it helps out a lot of people emotionally and it raises lots of money. The only thing is that when everyone is there at midnight, the only people there are Lovejoy students. There’s no families or other members of the community, so I think it would be a better idea to cut it a little bit shorter for everyone. I would also like those hours spent at Relay For Life to count towards community service hours–people are spending their Friday night to be there, and that would be a good reward. Also, there’s a few things should be changed for meetings to make them more practical for everybody. I have a few ideas, and so does Michael Lane, as we have been working together to come up with a plan. One of our ideas is to make meetings virtual, via Google Classroom or another medium, so that we can quickly and practically communicate information for NHS members.

TRL: What sets you apart from other candidates?

MP: I have an assortment of different qualities. I’m in varsity sports and AP classes, and I can connect with a wide demographic of people. I feel like one of my strengths is interacting with everybody, and that would help me make everyone in NHS happier instead of just a certain group of people.

TRL: What would be the first thing you would change about NHS if you were elected?

MP: Besides Relay For Life, the meetings. Lots of students thought the meetings were either short or boring, and the meetings definitely need to be more interactive.

TRL: Why is NHS and what it stands for important to you?

MP: There’s the four pillars we always talk about, which are character, scholarship, leadership and service. To me, it is truly an honor and a humbling thing to be part of because not everybody gets the opportunity to be a part of it. It’s a great way to bring good kids together.