Days away from the election, my nerves haven’t caught up to me yet. I think the most stressful part of running for Student Senate President is all the pressure from outside people – I must do this, or what, why didn’t you make your posters differently, why didn’t you make your name pop more? Where did my posters even go? That’s another stressful aspect, where did my posters go? As the days go on, I see less and less and them being replaced with different posters. Not only is it stressful, it’s infuriating to know that someone could take something down that really means something to someone when the event isn’t over yet.
Along with running for President against a friend is what other friends say – the “betrayal” of someone else. That’s been my experience so far, is betrayal. Let’s get one thing straight; it’s not the person I’m running against, again it’s the outside people. The pot of tension is stirred and continues to stir because of it, but how do you confront these people without the Presidency being on the line?
Anyway, the Student Senate Presidential Forum was on Wednesday, April 12th at 6PM in the Board Room. If you don’t know what a forum is, it’s when the audience asks you questions, being filtered through the two people who are running the forum. The question must apply to both candidates so they can respond, and the candidates take turns to reply; they are timed, but cannot change their answer once they have answered. The candidates take turns on who goes first, and after the hour went by we were both able to say why the audience should vote for us.
Afterwards, Lai-Monte commented on how well we complement each other and together as a team we could change Student Senate – I think that’s what is most important, no matter the outcome we should be able to come together to still work together since we both mutually want Student Senate to be better and to welcome all students together.
I sit in class and wonder how will Student Senate be in five years? How do we make sure that we’re paving a path instead of putting rocks down that can be moved? Being the President or not, I think the most crucial years are coming up for Student Senate – what way will Senate go? Will it continue to plummet into the ground or will it grow?
Personally, I believe New England College is going through growing pains. They want 1,500 undergraduate students in the next five years, which comes with many additions to the school. What else comes with 1,500 besides buildings and Faculty? Budgets need to increase significantly; Clubs and Organizations need to increase significantly – we need students who are engaged and care about one another and for the school.
If I could take one thing out of this election, it would be that no matter the outcome, I am so grateful for this experience. Higher Education is what I want to study and have a career in for my life after NEC, specifically something to do with Student Senate/Student Affairs in general. This election has given me the fire I needed to continue what I want to do. I thought I was beginning to burn out, but instead the election has lit the fire inside me that I needed.
