Student Body President Maya Hirani is practically the embodiment of school spirit; she even showed up to school dressed up as a superhero to give her campaign speech. Hirani’s appreciation for the Rye Country Day faculty, students, and community goes deeper than cheering at athletics events and sporting blue and gold merchandise—though she wants all students to share this sentiment.

“I want students to celebrate being here,” Hirani explains, “and celebrate each other, and remember that being here is a gift, almost. The fact that all of us are able to be here, the fact that we have pool testing every week, the fact that teachers have shown up for us for the past eighteen months… That’s special, and I don’t think students always recognize that, so I want them to remember that.”

From Field Day to Senior Car Painting to Community Meetings, Hirani repeatedly emphasizes how important it proves to have a good team, as well as her gratitude for her own. The student body president surrounds herself with like minded individuals, whether it is her brother, Sameer, her friends, or her teachers. She knows she can rely on the support system that is undeniably present in the RCDS community.

One of Hirani’s greatest partners, she said, has been Senior Class President, Leah Colin. Colin and Hirani, with the help of many others, collaborated on field day and the senior car painting before school even started. 

“[Senior car painting] may be my favorite thing that’s happened this year,” Hirani admits, “and it was a really good way to kick off our senior year. […] I feel like we all really need something like that.”

Caps and gowns are one of Hirani’s top goals for the year. “I would like to graduate in a cap and gown,” she notes. “Although […] I think some traditions are really hard to change and hopefully if it doesn’t happen in my year it’ll happen in the next few years.” 

Other plans for the school year include the Junior-Senior challenge (Sunday, November 21 at 2pm), as well as a possible Blue and Gold competition throughout the year. Hirani emphasizes how events like these can raise school spirit and build a better sense of community, important aspects of RCDS. 

More than anything, though, Hirani is grateful for her position. “I’m just really honored that I’m in this position, and that my peers chose me to be in this position,” she articulates. “I think this is an interesting year to be a leader in this community, because […] things are still not normal, but it feels like we’re returning to some sense of normalcy in the way that all of us are here, [and] we’re having these events that we weren’t able to have in the past.” After three years of high school being interrupted by Covid, Hirani wants students to feel that RCDS is a safe place again. 

Hirani’s apparent love and appreciation for Rye Country Day makes her the perfect leader to bring us into this new, post-pandemic era. Her passion for helping students and bringing gratitude to the community illustrate how she is willing to go above and beyond for her RCDS family, truly living up to last year’s superhero getup.

Hirani’s final piece of advice is that she wants students to not be afraid to try things that may seem scary. 

“I think people need to try out a bunch of new things, especially when they’re new, so just immersing yourself in the different opportunities here at Rye Country Day, trying things that aren’t familiar to you,” she concluded. “We have a limited amount of time here, so just have fun, learn a lot, work hard… Those are my words of wisdom.”