Student Council

For the past four years I have served as a representative on my schools student council, and task I have eagerly enjoyed due primarily to my love of politics. It was because of my passion for it that I decided to enter it, and more specifically, to run for the executive as President last year during the annual elections for those positions. It had always been my goal to become President as I yearned to be in a position of authority from which I could have a positive influence on the world around me. To be perfectly honest, while as I representative I served on many committees and helped out at various dances and fundraisers, I was never had the power to effect policy decisions. That was my primary motivation for running. Further, it has always been my fundamental belief that the only way to bring about the change you want to see in the world is to actively bring about it yourself. Therefore, I was determined to at least try to carry out my vision by participating in the democratic process.

However, one of the requirements for the executive is that you must run with a team (either 3 or 4), and this was perhaps my greatest challenge. There was not a lot of people who were interested in running unfortunately, but I was finally able to get some sort of team together. Working with them was another story all together, as we were a group of some fairly strong personalities (to put it lightly). In the end, compromise was often necessary, although some of the decisions weren't always to my liking. Nevertheless, I grew to accept them as something that is necessary in politics (or rather a fact that could not be avoided).

Now, while I didn't win, I came away from the campaign having learned some essential lessons. The first was how to organize a group effort and to keep them inspired through a long period of time. I achieved this not just by talk but by action, for if a leader is at the front line and working to his full potential, then it sends a message to those around him/her. Time management was also essential, as our platform and publicity had to be completed in a relatively short span of time. Delegating, although not always to my taste as I prefer to micromanage everything, became a necessity. And finally, as I have discussed above, collaberation was another key that had be fitted into the puzzle. Overall, I'm glad that I attempted this task, and I look forward to the next time when I'll have the oppurtunity to run for office. Let's just hope that it will be more successful!