When I met up with Bret Lesavoy to interview him about his position as the President of Junior Class Council, I couldn’t help notice the numerous people that smiled and greeted him. With Bret being extremely active in the Duke community as a Duke for Duke and Duchesses and the president of the Duke Pre-dental Society, it would be surprising that the name “Bret Lesavoy” hasn’t popped up in a conversation or appeared in your inbox.
Bret takes his role on Junior Class Council enthusiastically. As president, he hopes to provide many resources and events for his class.
“I want to address needs and concerns that our classmates will be dealing with specifically in junior year,” Bret voiced.
One of the biggest concerns is the gap that has been made with 412 juniors, 25 percent of the junior class, studying abroad this semester. With so many juniors missing, there’s a difference in the norm this semester. One way Bret hopes to relieve this gap is to offer ways through technology to let people keep in touch overseas.
The class council has already started a photo competition where students abroad can post pictures of their experiences. A directory has also been sent out to inform people who are studying abroad and where they are, along with contact information.
Another need that Bret brought up dealt with career decisions that juniors normally face. As juniors are searching for internships and studying for pre-professional exams, he wants to give juniors easy access to resources through the career center, as well as target events and programs that will help in the process. In addition to providing helpful resources, Bret is also planning fun events for juniors as a break from the stress and anxiety in the career-finding process.
A third goal of Bret’s is to allow juniors to explore Durham through the class council’s project titled “#2015does…”
“I’ve talked to many upperclassmen and alumni who voiced that their biggest regret was not exploring Durham enough,” explained Bret, “so the project allows juniors to explore Durham more by hosting events at eateries and providing tickets to Bull games and DPAC events.”
Another aspect of exploring Durham is through monthly service events. Bret hopes that these service events give students a chance to put everything they have into perspective.
It is important to note that Bret has participated in class council for the past three years. I asked him what was his favorite aspect of being in class council has been and he answered, “the transformation of everything.” He pointed out that the transformation of the types of events the successive class councils held corresponded with the transformation that students face from freshman year to now.
“Freshman year events were geared towards more social events in which people can meet new people and start new friendships, sophomore year events were catered towards developing these friendships and choosing majors, and now it’s all about making Duke our own,” Bret elaborated.