Heading into her freshman year, Ella Manson is excited for the opportunities that high school has to offer, one of them being student council. 

When Manson was at St. Agatha Catholic School, she was a part of the student council, helping plan events such as school dances. Being a member of the council inspired Manson to join La Salle’s Leadership class as well as apply to be the freshman class president. 

Manson applied to become the freshman class president because, “Freshman voices need to be heard,” she said. “I thought I could do a good job at making that happen.”

Being in this new leadership position has been an exciting and fun experience for Manson. “Being able to have a say in how things are run is exciting for me,” she said. She also enjoys being able to have more of a voice in the Leadership class.

Along with the excitement, she is also slightly nervous for this role because she is the only freshman in the Executive Council and she is still getting the hang of how the school works. Despite this, Manson feels welcomed and included into the new environment because of how friendly everyone has been towards her. 

Manson especially feels welcomed and inspired by Director of Community and Student Leadership Ms. Adriana Noesi. “She leads class really well by having a fun time while doing it,” she said.

Eager to start fulfilling her duties as a member of the Executive Council, Manson has a set of goals she wants to accomplish before the end of the year. She hopes to be able to plan a fun end of school dance and to make the spirit weeks more inclusive so that everyone can participate in dressing up for spirit weeks.

Not only is Manson involved in the leadership team, she is also a part of the cross country and basketball teams at La Salle. 

Being a student athlete is something that Manson is used to as she had been playing sports since elementary school. Being a student athlete in high school comes with  struggles such as less time to complete homework and a need for time management skills. 

She also has a love for the great outdoors because of her family. Manson goes hiking as well as snowshoeing at Mount Hood with them. “My family is very outdoorsy, and they kind of brought me into it,” she said. 

In the future, Manson hopes to become a lawyer, possibly even starting her own law firm. She is interested in law because she knew many people while growing up who were lawyers, as well as the fact that a lawyer has many of the same traits as a leader does. 

“They kind of have to have confidence and get their point across well,” she said. “You have to be able to talk in front of people well which is important.”

Hoping to continue her involvement in the Executive Council in future, Manson’s advice for students looking to try out for a leadership position is “just go for it and try new things,” she said. “They’ll come out well if you just try.”