Profile: Dana Smiley

By Leela Moreno

During her junior year, Dana Smiley was one of the key members of Oregon Student Voice who created House Bill 3077 which is now signed into law. The bill reforms the sexual assault reporting and investigative processes in K-12 schools, making schools safer and increasing student’s well-being.

“[The bill] was something that I was very proud of personally because of the role that I played in coming up with the concept and doing the editing,” Smiley said.

In her freshman year, Smiley created a service project focusing on hygiene for the homeless population. Currently, she is involved in multiple non-profits including Mission Citizen and Oregon Student Voice and says that the work she does can be very discouraging.

“That’s a different sort of stress than school stress,” Smiley said, “it's more like world stress... feeling like you are just one person trying to take on so much.”

Balancing so many activities with a full IB course load is mentally challenging. She is extremely dedicated to her schoolwork, but she recognizes that it isn’t everything.

“What matters right now is not the score that I get on an essay, it's not whether or not I missed a math problem on my homework,” Smiley said, “what really matters is the relationships I have, the type of person I'm becoming.”

She values the people in her life more than anything. They have been the main influence on the person that she has become.

Though she is immensely proud of her academic successes, she said, “ none of my accomplishments matter more than strengthening my relationship with my sisters, building up all of these incredible friends.”

Looking back on her experience on Constitution Team she has many positive views on the way it helped her grow as a person.

“[My coach] was still endlessly compassionate and caring and put my well-being above everything and that made a huge impact on me and the type of leader that I will be in the future.”

Looking forward, Smiley has a lot on her mind, but she is certain about one thing.

“In my future I couldn't derive any satisfaction or fulfillment out of work if I wasn’t actively working to forward a cause greater than myself or constantly striving to be in the service of other people.”