The Student Senate by Brian

The Student Senate by Brian - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

The Student Senate has always been a way for me to make change in my school. It gave me the influence and ability I needed to actually make a difference in the community. The largest impact I’ve ever had on the school took place earlier this year when I returned senior-contributed material to our yearbook. After school administrators failed to remove an inappropriate senior quote from last year’s yearbook, the school attracted negative attention from insolent parents on Facebook, students from other schools, and even local news channels on the television. As a result, school administrators recently decided to remove all student-contributed material from the yearbook, including senior quotes, superlatives, and secret ambitions. As word of the removal spread, indignant students from Passaic Valley began calling for a boycott of the yearbook as a whole. They thought that the yearbook was not worth the cost if they could barely even participate in making it. Since I was the prior student liaison to the Board of Education and I am currently the Student Senate President, I realized that I had to take the initiative to return senior quotes to the yearbook. The student body chose me to represent them, and that was exactly the type of thing I had to do. Moreover, I knew I had the leadership skills to actually get yearbook quotes back because I had a lot of past experiences with leading groups of people, and students believed that I was responsible enough to lead them in the movement to return yearbook quotes. In regards to the Board of Education, I was previously successful with resolving a problem students had about the scheduling of science classes in the school. The school had removed the ability to take two science classes in one year from students, and I gathered people that opposed the decision for a petition, which changed the Board of Education members’ minds. I was sure that I needed to treat the senior yearbook predicament with even more care, caution, and persistence than I did with last year’s scheduling dilemma. I needed to remain calm and pragmatic, making sure that those working alongside me act in the same manner. Although I understood how to communicate with the Board of Education members, the real question was how I was actually going to change their minds because the school was set on keeping inappropriate student materials out of the yearbooks forever. In order to acquire more information about what course of action I should take with my proposition, I eventually decided to meet with school administrators myself. I personally spoke with three staff members and the superintendent, but I knew that I had no choice but to appeal directly to the Board of Education because every administrator said that there’s absolutely no way the yearbook quotes would be brought back. Yes, I was discouraged by their blunt rejections, but I stayed confident and moved onwards to the Board of Education. So be it. In order to be taken seriously by the Board, I knew that I needed to gather parents and students to stand together as a united front, and, in the end, it all worked out. I gathered over thirty passionate parents and students from the community, went to the Board of Education meeting, and had ten people speak, giving the Board of Education members different compelling reasons to return quotes to the yearbook. We explained how their removal would negatively affect the student body, the school’s image, and even the community around the school, and the Board of Education members listened! They loved how calm, genuine, and eloquent we all were at the meeting, and they voted to return quotes and superlatives back to the yearbook. At the school’s open house a few days later, the Business Administrator on the Board of Education even commended me for my efforts and professionalism, assuring me that changes will be coming soon. After a couple of days, school administrators spoke to the yearbook committee and all the senior students, confirming that there will be yearbook quotes, superlatives, and other student-contributed materials in the yearbook. From my movement, I learned that, although I’m just a student, my voice does matter. Without a doubt, my achievement made a massive, positive impact on the community of students and parents at Passaic Valley High School. The community was furious over the removal of senior quotes, and people threatened to boycott the yearbook for vengeance on the school. My achievement avoided this stigma, and, now, hundreds will be pleased with the yearbooks they take home for the rest of their lives. In the end, I successfully restored a beautiful tradition for my classmates, my sophomore sister, and all of Passaic Valley’s future students, so they can express themselves in their yearbooks and reminisce over amazing high school memories. Prior to the movement, many students like myself felt as if they had absolutely no control over their lives at school, powerless in comparison to administrators. Ultimately, my accomplishment proved that we do have a voice. As long as we have great leadership, strong reasoning, and passionate supporters on our side, no school administrator could shut us down. The Student Senate has given me countless opportunities to help my community and get involved. Without that, I would have never been able to become the Student Senate President and achieve something as significant as the yearbook quotes.