Aarez Zaidi: Red House Captain
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your interests?
I am 16 years old and I am in the 11th grade. My interests include playing and watching football, as well as many other sports and spending time with my friends and family. I plan on studying sports management in the US post 12th grade, and I’ve been in Ascend since 2013 and I am proud to have seen the school grow over the years, from 3 people in the 1-2’s to multiple divisions.
What is your goal for the red house and what do you hope to achieve?
My goal for the Red House is to build a friendly and positive environment, where students of different ages can interact and get to know each other. I feel this is important because building good relationships within the house can get the members more motivated and committed. Most importantly, my aim for the Red House is to win competitions and maximise everyone’s participation within the house, and not just focus on sports related things.
Why did you want to be captain?
I wanted to be captain of the red house because I strongly felt I was the most suitable candidate. I am confident that I have the traits that a good leader and captain should have. I believe I have the determination to familiarise myself with everyone in the house and push them outside of their comfort zone. Also, I am convinced that I can cultivate a winning mentality within the house, motivating everyone to excel in competitions.
What has been the most rewarding thing so far about being captain?
The most rewarding thing for me about being Red House captain has to be seeing everyone in action during sports day. There was a lot of preparation and build up to sports day within our house and I was slightly anxious to see everyone perform. It was truly amazing to see every member of the red house put in their best effort. The feeling of seeing a red house member on the podium and lifting the trophies was the most rewarding thing so far for me.
Diya Suriya: Green House Captain
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your interests?
I am 16 years old and in the 11th grade. I am the captain of the green house. I plan on pursuing International Relations in the US after school. This is my second year studying in Ascend as I joined in the 10th grade. Some of my interests include playing musical instruments, playing basketball, going on walks and spending time with my family and friends.
What is your goal for the green house and what do you hope to achieve?
My goal for the Green House is to maintain our success post sports day. We hope to achieve a well-rounded house filled with spirit and motivation. I want to build an uplifting and inclusive environment for everyone in the house and maintain positive relationships with the members of the house.
Why did you want to be captain?
I wanted to be captain as I wanted to exercise my leadership skills within a competitive house environment in school. I believe I possess great amounts of spirit as well as responsibility to take on this role. Being captain has also helped me create relationships with people from different grades and engage with students I most normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to.
What has been the most rewarding thing so far about being captain?
The most rewarding thing so far about being captain was winning sports day. As the underdogs and the house with the least expectations, we were able to completely turn around everyones perceptions of us and be able to place first on both days of sports day making us the overall winners. This lifted everyone’s spirits in our house and truly made us a stronger team.
Ishita Ambekar: Blue House Captain
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your interests?
My name is Ishita, I am 17 years old and in grade 11. I hope to study in the UK specifically in psychology or sociology. I have been in Ascend since 2017 (my 5th grade) and have always hoped for a role in which I have a leadership position. Some things I enjoy doing are listening to music, reading (whenever I get the chance), going on long walks and spending time with my family.
What is your goal for the blue house and what do you hope to achieve?
I hope to keep the team motivated throughout all our activities and also foster a large amount of team spirit (as this is what keeps us all motivated). I would like for our members to indulge themselves in different activities, even though they may not be familiar with them, so I can push them out of their comfort zone. However, I also hope to see people with already existing interests further flourish. With this being said I hope that we are able to win competitions, inter-school activities etc.. Finally, I hope to get to know each one of the blue house members and hope others can get to know people from different grade levels.
Why did you want to be captain?
I wanted to be captain because I believed I could make a difference with such a significant chance, role, and responsibility. Although I am not very interested in many sports, I believe that being a captain is primarily about organisation, sportsmanship, leadership, and responsibility. These are a few attributes that I believe I possess and hoped to demonstrate when I was given the opportunity. Another quality I believe I have is competitiveness and a desire to win.
What has been the most rewarding thing so far about being captain?
So far, the most rewarding experience I’ve had as captain has been witnessing our comeback from the first day of sports day, as we were placed last to where we ended up on the second day, second overall. Although we did not win, I saw the people in my house put in a tremendous amount of work, including the vice captain, which helped us gain a significant amount of points. I also enjoyed watching our team spirit grow until sports day, as our chants became more popular and our players became more friendly with one another.
Siddharth Piramal: Yellow House Captain
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your interests?
I am 16 years old and in the 11th grade. I’m aspiring to study in the United States, and whilst my field of study is undecided, my areas of interest include Business and International Relations. I have been in Ascend since 2015, and my favourite things include football, horse-riding and spending time with my mother.
What is your goal for the yellow house and what do you hope to achieve?
I hope that the members of the yellow house are always excited to attend house practices and meetings. I want to create a culture where house time is something that people look forward to, rather than something that is an obligation to get through. We had also hoped to achieve success in competitions, through this “positive house culture”.
Why did you want to be captain?
I wanted to be captain because I was firstly sure that I was the best candidate to be a representative for a house. It was only fair to the members of the yellow house that they get the most willing candidate and also the most organised one. I think the challenge of this new kind of responsibility was also appealing, as I wanted to test my leadership skills in a more official setting.
What has been the most rewarding thing so far about being captain?
The most rewarding part of being captain is seeing new relationships being formed between people from all grades. Personally for me, I now know everyone in my house, people who I didn’t know before, and it also gives me a chance to communicate with younger people in secondary school, which is a boost to the overall spirit of the school, as well as a more inclusive and friendly environment that the school has.
