Wilder Short ’18 and Julia Cosgrove ’18 will serve as Head Prefects for the 2017-2018 school year.

Short and Cosgrove, along with JP Cherry ’18 and Princie Kim ’18, delivered speeches promoting their campaigns during an assembly in Taper Gym on Wednesday.

Voting was opened to students after the assembly ended and closed at 2:35 on Thursday, at which point the winners were announced in an email.

Candidates had to prepare a two minute speech detailing their defining character trait and a time in which it was useful. They were also asked two unprepared questions regarding the most important lesson they learned as a Junior Prefect and what they considered success to be.

Short focused on his optimism and how it has served him since the death of his father. He advised students to appreciate those they love and cherish every moment.

“On one hand, I was about to begin the most exciting chapter of my life; on the other, a chapter was closing much sooner than I expected,” Short said. “The optimist in me doesn’t want to drag you down through the pain of experiencing the death of a parent, but the optimist in me does want to say this; Embrace those around you, those you love. Hold onto memories that you cherish throughout your life because you never know what could happen.”

Cosgrove mentioned her approachability as a defining character trait, as well as her love for the job.

“I think that being approachable and devoted are strong suits of mine. I love talking to new people on campus, I love getting to know people that I already know and most of all I love serving and representing all of you,” Julia Cosgrove ’18 said.

Cherry spoke largely on his alternative education as a child and how it has shaped his personality and outlook on the world, while Kim detailed her experience bonding with a North Korean refugee.

“After three weeks of getting to know her and doing a lot of activities with her, she told me on the day before I was returning back to the US that she’s never been able to make a personal connection to anyone in her life the way that she did with me,” Kim said. “That really made an impression on me and that’s something I want to bring to the Harvard-Westlake community and I think that’s defined the way that I act every day.”