by Miles Graham
What or who inspired you to be President?
Miguel Perez inspired me to become president. He was president from 2013 to 2015. It was very intriguing to see his goals and what he did as president.
What are your goals as president?
Photo credit: Melvin Prudente
My goal is to one day see Eagle grow to be more student-led. One example is town hall. That’s supposed to be a student-led process; but instead we don’t have enough leaders stepping up to take that role. So instead what we do is have staff members take over that process. So one of my goals is to see that grow and expand. Another one would be YSI, cooperating with Bell’s program, ensuring that what your class does–like with the Eagle Express, and journalism, and your photography class–to be displayed around the school. So we’re trying to expand that. They recently added the boxing class and other classes, and I’m pretty excited to see where that’s headed.
Do you feel like you’ve made a change to this school?
Absolutely. Just the fact that I’m able to have more of a presence in the hallways, and among faculty and staff…I mean, in the past we never had a student constitution. Most schools don’t really have a student constitution on the high school level, until you get to college, and that’s where the action really begins. Because of that, we try to mimic that process–so when students go off to college, they’re able to start a club, or help someone run a campaign, or participate in student affairs. Whatever it is that has to do with student government, or has to do with organizing, they will be ready to go on and execute. That’s one of my biggest things, is to prepare guys to execute on the next level. That’s why I do what I do every single day.
Do you think that you’ve accomplished this?
Well, students are stepping up into more leadership roles. The chairman of the senior committee, Amir White, he’s the most phenomenal young man I’ve ever met in my time here at Eagle Academy. He really exemplifies what it means to be a leader, and is really stepping up to the podium and executing the things that the students need. A big part of it is representing the students. So I can’t say I am not proud or happy…I believe I’m making a change.
How has being president affected your academic and personal life?
Wow, that’s a good question. Because when you talk about it, it take a lot to be outside the classroom, and to takes a lot to be inside the classroom. What I mean by that is, there are so many things going on in the school, there’s always something occurring, and there’s always something that you have to do. And it gets to a point where you wonder, am I doing enough, and can I do more. And answering those questions, and filtering those questions in my mind, it takes me from what I have to do in the classroom. It puts me behind, and I have to catch up on my classwork. And a big part of what’s important for me, especially–I recommend for any student to build a teacher-student relationship–it’s a big part for me, because I’m missing class so much. I’m always out of class, I’m always doing something. So I have to build that relationship, where I’m on that steady platform. I remember I struggled my first half, because I was managing being in the classroom and being outside the classroom. So it makes me a little more stressed, because I have to meet the teacher after school, because she’s not gonna talk to me on her lunch, and she’s not gonna talk to me on her prep…it’s just the way that things are. He or she may have five classes for the day, and may only have one prep or one lunch period. So I have to say, okay, they are stressed out, because the pressure’s on them to meet a certain mark. So by me trying to pull them from what they’re trying to in the classroom to attend to me as an individual, that’s kind of selfish from their perspective. I chose to do this, and be out of the classroom doing other things, so I had to make some time and negotiate making up assignments and making up grades. And it’s good because it teaches you time management. I never knew what time management is until I had to manage all this. And I’ll tell you the truth, I have no personal life. Because when you think about all the pressure, and all the stress…your mind can’t say, lemme go have fun with some friends, lemme go to the movies, when you know you have to catch up on an assignment, when you know you have to get out a proposal, send an email, do all these things. it becomes very stressful and time consuming. So I stepped away from this personal life because I invest in my work. I often tell people, what I do here is a way of life. It’s something that I want to do for the benefit of others. So if I can give up my free time to ensure that someone else has a happier life, I have no problem doing that.
So would you consider what you do here your personal life?
Photo credit: Justin Mendoza
Absolutely! I mean, I live here! When I say I live here, I get things get done…when I get home, sometimes it gets noisy, and family gets in the way of things, so you often can’t…max out how you want to max out. So because of that, I’m here oftentimes at six o’clock, seven. I remember when the varsity basketball team was here, they would be leaving at eight o’clock. And I would literally be in the building until eight o’clock, until their practices ended and they’re leaving. So that’s the type of grinding that I do every single day. It’s very interesting to note that…this is a thankless job. No one’s gonna slap you on your shoulder and say, hey, you’re doing a great job. No one’s gonna, punch you and say, you know, hey pal, you’re doing an awesome job. No one’s gonna do that. They would rather tell you that you’re doing an awful job than tell you you’re doing a good job. So that’s how it is. So I have to be on my grind to make sure that these things don’t happen, that I don’t hear a lot of negative things.
Have you ever considered resigning from President?
Um, no, no, no…I haven’t. Because being a president isn’t about dropping a baton, it’s about dropping a baton, this is what I signed my life over for. I knew what I was getting myself into before I got into it, so I was pretty much prepared for what was gonna come my way. I’ve felt frustrated, I get frustrated a lot; but to a point where I say that I wanna resign, or I wanna quit? No. I mean, I’ve had a lot of people resign; it’s just the intensity of what I do. There’s a lot of pressure that I put upon various elected officials, and a lot of people tell me straight up, I can’t handle it. And I’d rather for someone to straight up tell me that, rather than, you know, beat around the bush when I ask them to jump on a project or an assignment, and give me an attitude; it makes the process a little bit longer, and there are a lotta channels I have to go through to get that person removed. So…if you did your time, you did your duty–I love to say this is civil duty, you’re doing it for your school, you’re not doing it for Kobe, you’re doing it for Eagle Academy. So whatever you do, whatever investment you make, you’re making it to the school. So I love to say I am doing my civil duty as a citizen in the school community here.
What do you want to do when you leave Eagle?
My plan is for the next president to build on what I have done. I don’t wanna leave here with a lot of accolades, feeling like I’m the man. That’s not what public service about. I couldn’t care less what praise I might get at the end. I care about letting that legacy, what was started under my administration, to continue along with the new president that’s coming in, and what he plans for his administrations…and that’s how government evolves, that’s how government grows. So when you ask what I want, that’s exactly what I want. I want, when I come back 15 years from now, Eagle Academy For Young Men student government has established itself to the max, where I would have never dreamed of. I don’t want to think crazy, for my plaque to be on the wall so when people walk in the building they could see I was a former president. No, that’s not what I’m all about. I am all about seeing what was started, continue for years and years to come.
Has being president changed you in any way?
Well, when you become a president it takes away a lot from you being you. Let me make that a little bit clearer. When you become president, you can’t do the things that you used to do before. You have to start doing things that require you being in the public eye a little bit more. So because I’m in the public eye a little bit more, yes it changed me tremendously, because now everywhere I go, people know who I am! I can’t walk in the hallway without somebody stopping me and saying, can you get that done? Can you get this done? Hey, Kobe…you know, it’s that my face is all over. And because my face is all over…now I have to learn how to communicate efficiently. Because now I can’t, say, if I’m having a bad day, somebody comes up to me and asks me a question, I can’t start barking on them because I’m having a bad day. I have to somewhat remember, hey, I’m the president here, and this is a student or a citizen of the school community who is asking me for a request. So no matter what it is, I have to hold up a level of professionalism so that I’m able to keep up that image of what a president is supposed to be. So it changed me tremendously, and I think it’s a positive change. You know, sometimes when you think about change, you think about negative, negative, negative. But this change that I’m talking about is a positive change.
Why do you consider it a positive change instead of a negative change?
The world is made up of good and evil. And everywhere you find good, you’re gonna find bad–and everywhere you find bad, you’re gonna find good. My thing is, you don’t dwell on the negativity, you dwell on the positive things. So I hate to say this, but I couldn’t care less about anything that’s negative. I only care, I’m only concerned, about what is positive. And anything that’s positive, I am driven by that…and anything that’s negative, I tune that out. Because that’s not gonna get me forward…or make me make any progress.
Do you think being viewed in the public eye is good or bad?
Photo credit: Miguel Garduno
It’s definitely a good thing, because when you think about being in the public eye, it makes you very responsible. Because you’re being very careful of your actions. Whenever you’re not in the school building, you’re still thinking about, what if a student sees me–what would their response be? What if a staff member sees me, what would their response be? So even when I’m not in the building, I am still upholding that level of responsibility as a president.
How do you interact with the faculty here at Eagle?
You know, I feel like everyone is here for a purpose, everyone is here to fulfill some part of the mission of Eagle Academy as a whole. As we all work, sometimes we miss the whole concept of calibration, working with each other. We’re all here to work for the bigger purpose. We’re all here working towards a bigger goal, and that is to get students ahead. Whether that be in the classroom, whether that be socially, personally…this is why we all have different roles in the school, because each person plays a significant role for a student. And sometimes that gets forgotten…that we must calibrate. We must work together, and we must communicate. And that’s what my message is to any of the readers…that we are here to calibrate, we are here to work with each other.
It’s been great talking with you. Is there anything else you want to say to the people who are reading this interview?
Well, my message to is never be afraid to approach me. I’m always available, to staff, to parents, to students…I’m here. That’s the main job here, is to be available. If you ever need me, I’m here. I work for the students here, I don’t work for anybody else. So anything to do with the students, I will be available.
Okay, Kobe, thanks for coming in and talking with us.
Thank you so much, Miles, and it’s a pleasure to be interviewed by you.
The Eagle Express 