Meet the 2019-2020 Big Sib Chairs!

Juniors Harper Andrews, Kristie Chu, Victoria Wong, Frank Yang, and Patrick Zheng have been chosen as the 2019-2020 Big Sib Chairs. They were picked by 2018-2019 Big Sib Chairs Jessica Gruboy, Jennifer Lee, Angela Sun, Joshua Weiner, and Bo Xuan Wu. With the recent acceptance of new members into the Big Sib program, both the previous chairs and their successors are excited about the upcoming year and the future of the program.

The process of picking the next Big Sib Chairs was thorough and intensive. “We all submitted a written application, and then they set up an interview. We also had to submit two Little Sib recommendations from our homeroom and one teacher recommendation. We also needed a Homeroom Leader recommendation, and they met with the homeroom leaders one-on-one to discuss and read what they wrote,” Chu said. “During the interview, everyone [was] nervous at first, but they [made] it a really chill environment for you. There were two faculty members there as well, but they didn’t really say anything, so it’s essentially just you and the Big Sib Chairs.”

The Big Sib Chairs did not know one another very well at first and come from different backgrounds. “I definitely can see us all coming from different dynamics. [...] We all do different things. The previous Big Sibs Chairs always talked about compatibility, and I don’t know how they did it, but the first time we stepped into the room together when they announced results, we all clicked, despite not meeting each other before,” Chu said.

Andrews is on the track and field team. He is also on Model United Nations (MUN) and has been a Student Union Project Manager for his three years at Stuyvesant. In addition, he tap dances outside of school.

While Andrews enjoyed being a Big Sib and getting to know his Little Sibs, he had to decide between having a more personal relationship with the incoming freshmen or a larger role reaching all of them. “I decided that I would like to play a role not having that one-on-one so much as being impactful on the entire incoming body and being able to help new Big Sibs achieve the same relationship I was able to have,” he said.

Chu plays on the girls’ varsity lacrosse team in the spring. She also directed the Latin dance group for SING!, and she has been taking ballet lessons outside of school since she was four years old. Additionally, Chu is on ARISTA, and she takes photos for the Indicator on spirit days and of sports teams.

Chu was drawn to the energy of the Big Sib program, which encouraged her to first become a Big Sib and later apply to become a chair. “I remember when I first came to the Stuy open house, and one of the Big Sibs who led my tour was so energetic about Stuy. When I saw him, I knew I wanted to be like him,” Chu said. “He seemed to know so much about his school and he did so many extracurriculars, and I thought, ‘I’ve never seen anyone do so many things at one time and be so happy about it.’”

Wong is an active participant of SING! and Stuyvesant Theater Community (STC), both as an actor and a director. Wong is also in acappella, and she wishes to go into the medical field to be a pediatrician. During the summer, she is involved with Stuyvesant Summer Tutoring, which tutors kids at libraries.

Wong appreciated being able to develop relationships with everyone involved in the Big Sib program. “My favorite part [is] obviously how close you can get to your Little Sibs, but also how close it makes Big Sibs, too, to each other,” she said. “The program brings people, teachers, everyone together.”

Yang is an active member of lights and sound, directing crews for both STC and SING!. He is also involved in MUN, is a part of the Board of Elections during election season in the spring, and is on ARISTA. Yang is also a podcast enthusiast, and he enjoys learning about economics, linguistics, and politics in his free time.

Yang’s decision to apply to become a Big Sib Chair was based on his experience as a Little Sib. “My personal experience as a Little Sib was not amazing. I don’t want to say that I was alienated by my Big Sibs, but [...] I always thought, ‘Would my Big Sibs be different if I were in a different homeroom?’” he said. “My former experience has made me more interested in the Big Sib program and, after this past year of being a Big Sib, want to have a more immersive role in deciding what Big Sibs do and how they interact with their Little Sibs.”

Zheng is passionate about gymnastics, inside and outside of school. In addition to being on Stuyvesant’s team, Zheng coaches gymnastics for kids. Zheng has also shadowed doctors and participated in programs due to his interest in pursuing the medical field. Finally, Zheng plays the bass, and is attempting to learn how to play the double bass.

Zheng enjoyed developing relationships and interacting with his Little Sibs. “One of the things I came to appreciate was how fast you can get close with a group of people,” Zheng said. “One of the biggest things [...] I experienced was how much help you can provide as a Big Sib, kind of passing down your experiences or memories to the Little Sibs, and they really appreciated that.”

The new Big Sib Chairs were selected during a time of recent controversy surrounding the program's lack of racial diversity. Despite backlash, however, the Big Sib Chairs have defended the application process. “Do you really think that five students out there have an agenda to set a quota of Asian Americans, a quota of whites, a quota of brown people? I respect The Spectator and I respect the article they wrote and I respect the evidence they collected, but I just don’t agree with they said. You can’t expect the makeup of the Big Sib population or the Big Sib Chairs to perfectly reflect the racial makeup of the student population,” Yang said. “We just accept who we think is worth it. We don’t think about whether the person is Asian, whether the person is white, whether the person is this or that.”

The Big Sib Chairs also acknowledged the fact that four out of five chairs are Asian; however, they did not attribute race as a factor in the decision process of the previous chairs. “I am for certain that there was something that the [previous] Big Sib Chairs found in all of them that would make them amazing leaders, great role models, and just generally awesome people to run the program, and I am confident that each one of them will be able to bring that same exact thing forward repeatedly,” Andrews said.

In light of the recent Big Sib application process, the Big Sib Chairs have recognized the lack of personality diversity in the program and the advantage of having different Big Sib personalities. “Appealing to more personality types is a good way to maybe get more people involved [who] are not so similar,” Andrews said. “I know that there is not a lot of consistency among what you see in Big Sibs—energetic, outgoing, and all that—and that’s amazing, but [...] not everyone can connect with that personality.”

Yang agreed. “I am all for accepting people with different personalities because that’s what would appeal to the most people. That being said, being outgoing and being friendly is obviously a must-have characteristic among all of our Big Sibs, in that during every homeroom, they should be talking to their Little Sibs. There are some traits that should be universal, that I want to see a speckle of in every person, but we should also aim to accept different personalities,” he said.

In addition to increasing diversity in Big Sib personalities, the Big Sib Chairs are attempting to modify the image of the ideal Big Sib. “It can be intimidating if all the Big Sibs have a lot of extracurriculars. I remember when I was a Little Sib, all of my Big Sibs had so many extracurriculars, and I was really overwhelmed,” Chu said. “We don’t necessarily look for someone with a lot of extracurriculars, and they can be more on the quiet side, as long as they will still reach out to their Little Sibs. You don’t necessarily have to be outgoing to take initiative.”

Since selecting the 2019-2020 Big Sibs, the chairs have begun brainstorming ideas to help better integrate the incoming freshmen. A key change the chairs wish to implement is strengthening the relationship between Big and Little Sibs. “We want to focus on getting that relationship between Big Sib and Little Sib more personal. There are a lot of events where it’s kind of broad [...], where there’s not so much one-on-one or even just a group with a Big Sib,” Andrews said. “We just want to develop that relationship and make it more personal rather than, ‘These are the five people who come to our homeroom every two weeks and sometimes they are helpful.’”

They also wish to add more events to bring Big and Little Sibs closer together after the summer. “We want more activities for Big Sibs and Little Sibs, because once the school year starts, you really just have homeroom [...] and one dance,” Wong said. “I want to have more events like that.”

Zheng agreed, and added that a dance or event at the end of the year would mark the end of a successful freshman year. “As the Little Sibs transition into sophomore year, there’s no final event that really signifies, ‘Wow, you guys made it past your first year, congratulations,’” he said.

The Big Sibs Chairs share a common passion for their new responsibilities, and are looking forward to the year ahead. “From the minute we were all sitting at the table in Ms. Pedrick’s office and they were announcing the results, I could tell the enthusiasm was tangible, and everyone was so excited about just having the opportunity to show who they are and be able to lead and have an awesome role in the school,” Andrews said. “We all share that same drive, and that’s really powerful.”