What it takes to excel as two club presidents

No one ever said being the president was an easy job. Though there may be some differences in being the country’s leader to leading school clubs, senior Emily Esch, president of Robotics and Anime, knows this well. Esch’s clubs have vast differences and similarities and it takes a superb sense of balance to keep them together.

Anime, which Esch ran last year as well, focuses on Japanese culture and animation.

“Anime is a small club, we meet to enjoy various aspects of animation in a weekly environment,” Esch said.

On a bit of a larger scale, the Robotics team went to First Tech Challenge finals this year.

“The WEHS Robotics is an organization where the members construct a robot for First Tech Challenge competitions,” Esch said. “We document and present our year as a business venture.”

The clubs are alike in how they share many of the same members.

“They are also part of the ‘Nerd Trifecta’: Anime, Robotics and Video Game Club,” Esch said.

Esch must correlate each club and make sure needs are met.

“Robotics consumes a lot of my time at the peak of competition season and it takes a lot for me to remember to get everything done,” Esch said. “Luckily, my vice presidents in Anime take over when I get too busy.”

Robotics sponsor Dr. Jacob Day knows that Esch spends the majority of her time on club related activities.

“I see her at least five times a day in my room,” Day said. “She is a great organizer and has done a great job keeping everyone on task.”

Esch is also head of the 132 page engineering Notebook, so leaning on her teammates is vital at times.

“It is big knowing when to have someone else handle something instead of handling everything by myself,” Esch said. “I try to at least keep my grades at passing, but friends are harder to juggle.”

Anime vice president senior Camila Santos follows through as a communicator to obtain information for the club.

“Lindsey [Anime vice president] and I simply plan by texting and getting information,” Santos said.

Esch must also consider the future and who will run the clubs when she graduates in May.

“Both clubs have somewhat of a hand-me-down system, and hand-me-down works better with Robotics since many of the members are freshmen,” Esch said. “Anime works better as a democracy, though I have been president for two years since we had to get through switching teacher sponsors.”

Esch is in her last year of high school. Focusing on other school responsibilities on top of club involvement is momentous.

“It’s not easy to be in charge of two clubs, plus school work, plus applying for colleges; it’s important to know there are other members of leadership for a reason,” Esch said.