In high school I ran for student government president, I really want to be more involved in my community and I have always enjoyed having jobs or positions that require organization, community building and collaboration. Although I was very enthusiastic and ran a great campaign, I lost. When I arrived at Scripps and saw the posting about running for First-Year Class President, I knew it was my time to shine, nonetheless, I lost again. I have never been a sore loser, but I did start questioning whether I had a future in any leadership positions.
Fall semester went by and mid Spring the posting for SAS wide elections was announced and I decided to run again, this time for Diversity and Inclusivity Chair. Although I ran unopposed, I still did my best to put myself out there and let people know who I was and what my platform was all about. We ended up having campaigns and elections virtually since the pandemic hit around the same time, but I still made my best to connect with everyone. I won! I was ecstatic about working with other student leaders and contributing to Scripps in a more efficient and specific way. My entire sophomore year I focused on connecting our identity affiliated clubs with our larger Scripps community and encouraged the integration of all students. I loved working with the identity affiliated clubs and hearing their thoughts and ideas especially in Leadership Council alongside our SCORE Director.
Once spring rolled around, I was tempted to run for the same position again but decided to run for Sustainability Chair since I am an Environmental Analysis major and want to connect more with all the clubs and movements related to those topics across the 5C’s. This time I was not the only person running for that position, but I was happy because it would make force me to make sure I was doing everything I could to talk about my platform and make myself known amongst students, especially since we were still virtual that year again. It was a very intense campaign since I did have a very qualified and competent opponent but, in the end, I won by a sliver percentage. I have not year started my position as Sustainability Chair but I definitely look forward to make Scripps more committed to social and environmental justice as well as institutionalizing students values surrounding sustainability and transparency regarding investments in fossil fuel industries.
I think that being a part of SAS and just running for a position in SAS has really helped build my confidence and how I express my ideas to others especially when trying to convince them on voting for me. I suggest that anyone interested in having a leadership role at Scripps run for a position they feel connected to or are passionate about because it makes the job that much more fun. If you don’t think you are ready for such a demanding role yet, Scripps also has SAS Senate which is a group of people who work alongside SAS and help with large decisions. To be a part of SAS Senate you only need to apply, and the Executive Chairs of SAS will select the new members of the senate. During my two years at Scripps, I have realized that SAS is not very popular amongst Scripps students and I definitely hope that It changes over the next few years. I think that a great way to get more students involved in SAS is by encouraging more people to run for each position and really highlighting all the work that happens under each Chair and in SAS overall.