Whether it’s walking into a classroom or a class cabinet meeting, senior class president Brandon Thach is always geared towards leading and setting an excellent example for his peers. Even as a relatively new student cabinet member, joining only last year, Thach constantly seeks opportunities to showcase his talents while creating a more collaborative community.

“I ran because I feel like we need a good leader, somebody that knows how to connect with students, someone charismatic that can actually connect with the people that he’s leading,” Thach said.

Thach’s peers and especially fellow cabinet officers witness his commitment as he pursues a better educational environment for himself and his classmates. 

“There isn’t anyone better fit to be senior class president, B.T. [Brandon Thach] brings a seriousness and commitment I haven’t seen before in the previous three years I spent in cabinet,” senior cabinet vice president Rabee Ahmed said. “He really shows his drive to make a change for our school and to give our seniors a proper final year at West.”

Before being elected president, the rules were stricter to qualify to run for office, including multiple years of experience. Knowing this, Thach made it his priority to develop an initiative to increase student involvement and inclusion. 

“I want more participation in student government. That’s really been my goal ever since I joined. I want more people involved, not just one tiny group of people doing everything. So what I’m trying to do is just make student government and student leadership, in general, more inclusive for everybody,” Thach said. “That’s why I signed and sent a proposal to the student government stating the need for a Class Executive Council for all the class cabins to meet together and have discussions. I feel like discussing between grades is very necessary.”

Prior to joining senior cabinet, Thach still held a résumé of leadership positions in West, including rock and roll club president. 

“I’ve been playing guitar since 2016. I just found my father’s old guitar in my grandmother’s house somewhere, and I just picked it up, and I fell in love with it and drums. I started playing in eighth grade, and so I joined the rock and roll club,” Thach said. “I think Rock and Roll Club is really what taught me how to lead because sophomore year when I became the president, I gained a lot of my leadership skills. I had to learn to coordinate and come up with plans.”

Even in the classroom, Thach is always prepared and ready to listen. 

“Brandon is a very interesting student leader because when he walks into the room, he knows what he needs to do. Some days he needs to make an announcement, some days he needs to lead a discussion, some days he needs to listen and learn and then participate,” English instructor Tamara Jaffe said. “The qualities that make him a very good leader are that he does listen to his comrades, he does listen to the people around him.”

As his final year at Niles West comes to an end, Thach recounts the valuable lesson he’s learned through his leadership positions and how they’ll serve him in his future endeavors.  

“I would love to be a leader in the future, just as I like to think I am now. Maybe start a business someday. I want to be in a position where I can lead a group of people and do good things,” Thach said. “But I learned you can’t always please everybody. That’s one thing that you really have to accept in any leadership role. You have to just please as many people as you can. There are things that people are not going to approve of.”

While Thach may be leaving the halls of Niles West soon, his overall demeanor and initiative to create a better community will linger on.