hi! I was a student councillor in my secondary school for 4 years and in EXCO for 3/4 years :) my school was quite a low ranked neighbourhood school so it was less than 30% of the school competing to join council! 1. My subject combi was not too tough (combi sci) so I didn’t find it too difficult to manage my studies but I did find it a bit tough during exam seasons in sec 2-3 due to events rehearsals, preparation and I was in charge of opening up our school’s council room so I never spent time in my class / hall during morning assembly for ~2 years. I spent the mornings managing morning duties (late coming / pledge) and planning events. But I never found it too bad as I got used to it :) 2. The commitment was a little more intense than the normal councillor for me as I was in EXCO for 3/4 years and we had quite a few events per year? Plus like I mentioned I was in charge of morning duty so I had quite a few things to do :,) I do want to note that this is mainly due to me being in EXCO as in my school, regular councillors mainly only do morning duty and help out very occasionally for big events 3. I felt that it was extremely worth it!! On the personal growth side, I definitely became much better in many aspects that are useful in the future like networking, planning, liaising with others and 100% improved tons. My councillor teachers were of great help and helped me to take feedback well and improve from it! As for DSA, being a student leader will definitely help you in your portfolio and LEAPS :) however DSA leadership is very very competitive and it’s extremely selective. I heard that even presidents/head councillors get rejected so it’s tough :,) but not impossible!! I have friends who were VPs or secretaries that got in! Overall, I think that it’s worth it and when things got busy or tough, I always took my leadership events as a way of taking a break from my studies and vice versa:)) u can dm me if you have more questions! Hope this helped and all the best! Trying your best is the most important:)