Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen several members of the Concord Academy community step up and become leaders in their perspective fields. One of these students is Rohin Nguyen ’21, whose path I will highlight from freshman to senior year.
Rohin’s biggest involvement at CA has been as co-head of the South Asian Student Society (SASS), a space for South Asian identifying students to find a supportive group of peers with whom they identify. Rohin has a deep love for SASS, as the organization has not only helped him find his own identity, but encouraged others on this journey as well.
Rohin shared, “The other co-heads and I have strived to make SASS as inclusive and welcoming as possible, especially while we’re all engaged in remote learning.” For instance, last year SASS had a joint meeting with Alianza to encourage new students to join both affinity groups. Both groups wanted to show to new students that they are very welcoming and encourage one another as well.
Rohin’s previous involvements in the CA community have been as a member of the Disciplinary Committee (DC) and as Sophomore class president. As a member of the DC, he was involved with a coalition of students and teachers that worked to help students learn from their past mistakes. As Sophomore class president, his main objective was to help bring the class closer together, a goal which he still strives for even to this day.
Outside of the classroom, Rohin has had heavy involvement with CA athletics. As a member of Boys Varsity Soccer, Boys Varsity Lacrosse, Junior Varsity Basketball, and Track & Field, Rohin became a valuable member of whatever team he was a part of. “Those teams have allowed me to meet new members of our community, in addition to helping me explore my interests and pursue new activities,” he says.
However, Rohin claims that his biggest role at CA has come about this year: as a member of the senior class. “As a senior class member it’s more important than ever to be a leader in the community, regardless of having an actual position or not,” Rohin commented. Rohin has reached out to new freshmen, attended mixed grade events, and has attended on-campus socials whenever possible. He urges his fellow seniors to also reach out to the freshmen, saying, “Make them [the new students] feel as included and welcomed as possible.” Lastly, Rohin addressed the CA students, “CA is an amazing community and I didn’t know anyone at first but I made many life-long friends while being here. When everything goes back to normal, you’ll [new students] see how amazing it actually is.”