This election was my 10th grade student council race
A disheartening result to the 2016 popularity contest.
When I was in eighth grade, I became the President of my middle school. I was not the most popular, most attractive, or funniest kid. Not even close. But I took the election seriously, wrote a strong speech, and showed up prepared. One candidate stole a friend’s pen, and my classmates felt he was disqualified. One candidate was writing her speech on flashcards as I delivered mine, and my classmates felt she was disqualified. One candidate made empty and unrealistic promises for frozen yogurt, and my classmates felt he was disqualified.
I won in a landslide. That year I got the school to bring back dessert and add more free periods. I don’t make this point to brag about my unimportant middle school accomplishments. I make this point to say that when it comes to middle school presidents, I did everything I could have done. The next year I moved to high school, and I was reelected to the student council. Another productive year followed, and I set my sights on getting reelected in tenth grade and running for school president later on.
In 10th grade I was easily defeated and my student council career ended. What does this have to do with the Presidential election, you ask? In tenth grade it seemed as if we had gone backwards. In eighth grade I won because I was qualified and prepared. In tenth grade I lost because I was qualified and prepared, but not the most popular or coolest kid in the grade. To be clear, I do not mean to compare myself to the most qualified presidential candidate in my lifetime. But as I sat watching the election results, I couldn’t help but think back to my high school student council election.
I once wanted to be President. Like many kids, my parents told me that anyone could be President, and that I could do whatever I set my mind to. Coming home after losing my student council election I felt rejected and disheartened. Knowing my ambition to seek legitimate political office far in the future, my parents told me that the real world wasn’t like this. Hard work was respected in the real world. Experience was respected in the real world. Preparation was respected in the real world. I believed this and truly took it to heart.
Our country mimics the step back my grade took. The 2012 presidential election was well contested by both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Were there rough moments? Of course there were. But many people felt comfortable with the possibility of either leader holding the most important office in the world, as Obama and Romney both had extensive track records as legitimate change makers. Regardless of who won, we would have been fine.
The 2016 presidential election was very different. We rejected the prepared, qualified, candidate. We rejected her because of her voice. We rejected her because of her gender. We rejected her because she prepared too much. We rejected her because of her professionalism. She won in pretty much every aspect of the race, from endorsements to debates. We rejected her anyways. She deserved better from us.
Instead, we voted for the bully. We voted for the high school kid who promised to get rid of homework forever. We voted for the kid who ran for the amusement of him and his friends. We voted for the kid who didn’t take himself seriously. We voted for the kid that the teachers warned us not to vote for when they asked us to take the election seriously. Everything he did should have been disqualifying. Instead, he will be our next president.
In high school elections, we often vote for less qualified candidates because we fail to care. It would be easy to think that American citizens are the high school kids who didn’t take the election seriously. But there is something much deeper going on here. It is a fact that Donald Trump was able to appeal to voters who have been silent and removed from our democracy for a long time.
It is too easy, and quite frankly unacceptable, to simply dismiss these individuals as uneducated. Many of Trump’s supporters may in fact be uneducated. He won 70 percent of the men without college degrees. They may be racist, xenophobic, homophobic, and anti-Semitic. He was endorsed by the KKK. They may be dangerous. But instead of asking ourselves how anyone could be so unintelligent as to even consider voting for Trump, we must ask ourselves why they actually did.
How has our education system failed our citizens? Why have we been unable to reach out to so many Americans for so long? Tonight’s result is beyond disappointing for me. But instead of reacting with dismay, we need to recommit to getting answers.
After losing my high school student council election I stopped running. I moved on to a new club, and aimed for new goals. I have never checked my privilege more than I am right now. I am very fortunate to be a white, straight, male. I cannot begin to understand how a member of any minority community feels as they face the prospect of President Trump. Take the time you need to heal. But do not for one second give up the fight. This result is a big blow to all of us. But the work has just begun. The sun will rise again tomorrow morning, and we will rise with it. Let’s get to work.
