Junior Saria Trivedi challenged tradition by being the first female student to run for Scotsman, a role of leadership typically held by five male Seniors whose job it is to encourage school spirit at pep rallies and football games. 

Trivedi running for Scotsman was a surprise for several reasons, the primary one being that most people weren’t even aware that girls were allowed to try out. 

“I didn’t think I was actually allowed to, and then after I joined the Google Classroom, I looked at the rules and it said him/her. So I was like, okay, I can actually do this. I can achieve what I wanted to do for a while,” Trivedi said. Joining the Google Classroom is only the first step though. The next challenge is securing multiple teacher recommendations, a crucial step in the process for Trivedi.

“The first female to run for things typically does not win those things, but it sets the stage for others to go and where next year there’s two or three females and the next thing you know, these types of steps that allow those kinds of bigger things to happen, the bigger discussion happens,” debate teacher Toby Whisenhunt said.

Trivedi’s friend, senior Isabelle Derr has seen many Scotsmen throughout her years at the high school and believes that Trivedi would have been a good fit for the job.

“I think she would wanna focus more on school spirit than just being funny. I think she would’ve tied into the entire student body,” Derr says

Trivedi’s goal to become a Scotsman was not a recent one. In fact, Trivedi has been aspiring to become a Scotsman ever since she learned what one was.

“It’s been my dream since I was a little kid to be one of the five people up there inspiring the school every day, and I just hoped to embody that,” Trivedi said.

A large consideration in selecting a potential Scotsman is character. Whisenhunt believes that Trivedi would have been a good pick for Scotsman in this regard. 

“She’s very caring and intuitive about the students around her and those needs and being aware of how they’re feeling. And so I think that it can really be a challenge for her because she takes on so much but at the same time it’s also one of the reasons that she really stands out,” Whisenhunt says.

Derr is another person who says she sees these positive qualities in Trivedi when they hang out.

“I love her happiness, and how her joy radiates,” Derr says.

During this time, Trivedi faced a significant amount of scrutiny for her decision to run for the traditionally male-occupied Scotsman position. 

“A lot of the negative comments towards me tend to go along the lines of ‘it’s always been a tradition, we’re changing it and change is not good in the situation.’” Trivedi says.

As a community, the high school has tended to pride itself on tradition, and the Scotsmen have been an aspect of the cheerleading team for several years. Despite the challenge that adjusting tradition in the community presents, Whisenhunt has seen Trivedi be able to get through other social situations in his debate class.

“She’s been able to deal with some folks that have a hard time getting in with other people,” Whisenhunt said. “The way she’s worked with our rural school team, both varsity and our novice kids, is the prime example of her being able to navigate those relationships.” 

But not all of the conversation around Trivedi’s decision to run has been negative. Trivedi has also said she had received positive feedback from her peers who are glad she is running.

“They’ve said ‘Hey Saria, I support you,’ ‘Hey Saria, I’m glad that you’re doing something cool and advancing,’” Trivedi says.

And though Trivedi has gotten many messages, both good and bad towards her, she says she wants people to recognize her perspective as well.

“I believe that being a Scotsman is more than just being a guy,” Trivedi said. “It’s having a lot of leadership and kindness, humor, spirit, energy and enthusiasm. And I believe all those qualities are not just limited to one gender.”

Additionally, she said she wanted to act as a form of representation for women in the community.

“So for that, I want to show up for all of the young women who have been told that they can’t do anything that a guy can do in life,” Trivedi says.

Because of the change in tradition in the community, Derr and other female students said they were more inspired to push into male dominated fields.

“I think it made me understand that women can do anything,” Derr said. “And I’m very happy for her to inspire the younger girls.”