Who is Leo Podov? The Student Union’s financial dude, dashing around the school with his big hair and charming smile. Effortlessly switching from serious face to whimsical face, he doesn’t fail to leave an impression. We take a make-or-break stab at an interview (more like a friendly chat) with Leo.
After a showdown with the coffee machine, in his best attempts at politeness, we take our seats on what is known as “the comfiest sofa in the school”. We indulge in a conversation about life and school, and how it all gets tangled up at times. Leo was among the first faces we saw here at KG, enthusiastically representing the Student Union. We often see him running to and fro, at meetings and in the dance hall, and it dawns upon us, does he ever manage to get to classes? Grinning, and somewhat surprised, he reassures us that he does indeed manage. But he also reveals that the Student Union room is in fact used as an extended locker for the Board. We marvel at the irony of us mere mortals fighting an everyday battle of winter jacket versus locker, under the prevailing force of the elite Board and their room. However, we’re brought back to Earth by the fact that Leo’s locker luxury comes with the added pleasure of racing up to the sixth floor for lessons every day.
Elite lockers aside, we’re curious about his life. If the school motto is study hard, party hard, is there time to manage hard when it comes to the Student Union? The answer is blocking any stress that comes his way. While schoolwork is taken seriously, we all know that Leo has a study face and a party face. We get the standard rhetoric on the Student Union; their aim is to make life here at KG a little more tolerable than the usual early mornings and stress with a hint of craziness. Apparently we have a lot to look forward to this spring. From “the comfiest sofa in the school”, by the wall of cigarette packets and inappropriate pictures à la Union, we bring news of Läroverksfejden and a secret blog (hush hush). Läroverksfejden is supposedly an epic tournament coming up, with our dearest rivals Norra, Södra and Östra. First-graders are left in the dark as to what “hetskretsen” is, but it’s not long until we find out.
One of Leo’s Board-mates walks in and makes himself at home, as Mother Sally comes by with a few words of wisdom. Apparently, this is our school’s Royal Family. In an unexpected burst of hysteria, Leo shouts “Fuck you, I’m famous!” Oh, the in-jokes we’ll never get.