As football season wrapped up at Huntley High School in October, this year’s Raider Nation Leaders have done an impeccable job leading the student section so far. Furthermore, leaders have gone above and beyond attending other overlooked fall sports events too. One of the key members contributing to Raider Nation’s success this year is senior Abby Rosa.
Ever since her freshman year, Rosa has always been interested in taking on a leadership role within Raider Nation, wanting to promote inclusivity among all students.
“Abby is a natural born leader who cares so much about inclusion at Huntley High School,” Raider Nation coordinator Bradley Aney said. “She welcomes almost anyone and everyone that she meets into the group [and] she’s always looking for the underdog and outlier.”
Rosa’s main responsibilities include running the Raider Nation Instagram account (@hhsraidernation), organizing and planning events, being the liaison between Raider Nation leaders and Aney, and ensuring the leaders are attending as many events as possible. Rosa tries to make all the sports events memorable for students by coordinating things with both Aney and principal Marcus Belin.
“I was able to get everybody riled up [during football games],” Rosa said. “I asked Dr. Belin buy a bunch of confetti poppers, hand clappers, and beads. That was my little thing for everybody to enjoy.”
Rosa, as well as the other Raider Nation leaders, have also shown up to other sports games, not just football. Being a busy student and co-captain of the varsity cheer team, Rosa still makes sure to show up to as many events as she can.
“[During state], she left cheer practice and drove down to Bloomington for girls volleyball, then came home, and then drove back down for volleyball for the second day,” Belin said. “I think she puts a lot on herself and pressures herself to do a lot of things, but she gives it her 100%.”
When planning and coordinating events, Rosa has grown as a leader by listening to her peers and understanding others’ viewpoints, even if they may not align with her ideas.
“What I’m most proud of with Abby, is her willingness to to engage with views that might not necessarily be her own,” Aney said. “She actively listens to those and tries to implement as much opposing viewpoints as she can without losing who she is as a person.
For the winter, Rosa is currently helping plain the annual Chuck-a-Duck event and trying to advocate for more pep rallies.
“[For the future,] I want to be able to go to more events, bring more people together than what we have been doing, and just make everybody’s senior year so special,” Rosa said.
Throughout her experience as a leader, Rosa has positively influenced her fellow leaders and the student body. She uplifts everyone around her and maintains a spirited mindset, even if a game is not going well or if things get stressful. She finds her hard work and dedication rewarding, especially when she sees students enjoying themselves during events.
“Being able to see everybody actually have fun at events has been the most memorable thing,” Rosa said. “People actually showing up at super-sectionals for volleyball, seeing so many people actually take time and driving out to DeKalb and showing up for a sport made me so happy. I remember I turned around to the other leaders and was like, ‘It makes me so happy that everybody came,’ it was amazing.”
