ESSO Interest Night/ESSO Q&A

By: Clark Wu

The sun set as students arrived at the Academic Quad, some with dining hall to-go containers in hand. A line accumulated by the food truck on the pathway. No one sat under the long white tent to eat—the Exeter Student Service Organization occupied that space. The bright lights and excited chatter were enough for any student to find their way over. 

On Saturday, September 25, ESSO hosted its annual Interest Night from 7 to 8pm. After a long year with limited opportunities to gather and share passions for service on and off campus, leaders of ESSO were eager to start conversations with prospective members.

The COVID-19 pandemic heavily influenced how ESSO clubs operated in the past year. “So much of our service is hands-on and in person. With COVID, we had to change everything to remote and many clubs were not able to continue. It was difficult to see so many clubs on pause but we also knew it was in the best interest of the health and safety of the school and town community,” ESSO club advisor Elizabeth Reyes said.

“The children’s clubs definitely got hit the hardest with the pandemic,” senior and ESSO’s Children’s co-Coordinator Bradley St. Laurent said. “At Around the World, we read with eight or nine year olds. That’s hard as it is when you’re in-person, and it’s almost impossible to try and help over Zoom. The same applies to Pen Pals—it’s really difficult for kids to retain information from an online meeting.”

However, the board members agreed that COVID-19 provided important insight into how one can run a club in the first place. “The online format taught us a lot about engaging with communities that we can’t necessarily be in contact with and the alternative ways of reaching out to little kids,” senior and ESSO’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator Aryana Ramos-Vazquez said.

St. Laurent agreed. “I think through the pandemic we realized just how important all of these small interactions we have with the community really means to us,” he said. “I think I speak for a lot of seniors and uppers who have been involved in ESSO for a while when I say that the ESSO is such an important aspect to our Exeter experience. We promise to put in our best work this year and involve the community in more creative ways!”

With a new year comes not only new opportunities, but also new leadership. Ramos-Vazquez is in the process of defining her role in the club. “We have to understand that we are privileged, that the Exeter community is a relatively privileged one, that we’re helping a predominantly white community,” she said. 

“ESSO has a lot of power to help marginalized communities in Boston and other New England localities. This is not to say that the Exeter community does not deserve our help. I genuinely think that they do and that the work we’ve been doing is very impactful and meaningful. But my main focus will be to create partnerships with other organizations and volunteer opportunities,” Ramos-Vazquez said.

Ramos-Vazquez plans to work more extensively with the Academy’s Assistant Director of Equity and Inclusion Kevin Pajaro-Marinez to develop some plans and strategies for the year. “My role is like that of a liaison. We may be partnering with OMA and the MLK committee to help them in the service aspect. I’m hoping to create a partnership between Girls Who Code and the international organization Black Girls Code and possibly other associations to create a large-scale Hackathon or summit to empower women of color in STEM. 

“I know that my abilities are very limited because of COVID, but a lot of these plans are in the cards. My goal is to help create opportunities and connections with organizations so that whoever succeeds me as the DEI coordinator has the foundations,” Ramos-Vazquez said.

The ESSO board focused on administrative and preparatory work in the past few weeks. Senior and ESSO co-President Garrett Paik spoke on the work that has been done so far. “We helped children’s clubs pivot towards tutoring and helping faculty children. We checked up on the club co-heads and hosted a training session. We also appointed club heads for the clubs whose turnover process was disrupted by the pandemic.”

“Now that some of the restrictions on campus are loosening up, we’re still trying to figure out a lot of things,” St. Laurent added. “Are service clubs going to meet outside? Where will we be hosting our events? It’s certainly my hope that everything returns to normal. In my prep year, ESSO was the biggest thing that everyone loved. For now, we’re just trying to spread the word and get as many people excited as we can.”

Senior and co-head of Phone Pals with Seniors (previously Games with Seniors) Russell Tam shared his plans for the coming year. “Phone Pals started last year as a way to connect senior citizens with students and cheer them up during the pandemic. This term we’re going to try to expand our program to more senior homes and residential communities around New Hampshire,” Tam said.

“It’s a really meaningful experience and a reminder to think outside of Exeter. A lot of our members feel relaxed and happy because they got to focus on someone else for part of her day. We’d recommend this club to anyone looking to join something inspiring and feel good,” Tam added.

Senior and co-founder of ESSO cubes Jacob David shared his experience starting his first community service club. “I’m excited about running the club this year! We’re a group who’s going to teach children how to solve rubik’s cubes and other puzzles.”

With limitations lifted, ESSO was very successful in encouraging students to join. “I think we had a pretty good turnout. It was really nice to see all the new kids walking around and looking at the different posters,” Ramos-Vazquez said. “I absolutely wrecked my voice trying to get their attention but I’m feeling proud and optimistic about the future of ESSO clubs this year.”

Students at ESSO Interest Night felt the incredible energy. “The club stands were really lively. The way co-heads advertised their clubs got me thinking how I could help out in the larger Exeter community and really become part of it,” upper Gbemiga Salu said.

Lower Charles Potjer agreed. “I didn’t know there were all these clubs! The energy that the student leaders bring to the event gets you super excited about working with them and those outside of Exeter,” he said.

Ramos-Vazquez sent her regards to the students joining ESSO. “I know it can be a little bit overwhelming to put down your email for so many ESSO clubs and that you might feel pressured to go to them all. My advice is to attend all the introductory meetings and check them out, then stick with those that you look forward to going to,” she said. 

“ESSO work is only impactful when you really care about it. Just explore, have fun! Exeter’s a lot and it’s stressful, but it’s really nice to take a break sometimes and engage with not only your peers but also the people in the community we often forget about,” Ramos-Vazquez added.  

Paik is hopeful for ESSO in the upcoming year. “The board spent a lot of time combing through past archives searching for new service projects and ideas and initiatives. Even though COVID put a pretty big dent in how students participate and interact with the community, it also gave us a really good chance to reevaluate everything we've done up to this point and come out a little stronger.”