Making Our Votes Count by Deana

Making Our Votes Count by Deana - July 2018 Scholarship Essay

When you campaign to represent students, you have to show them that you’re focused on what they need and pledge to represent their interests in the best way possible. More than that, you have to be the one that is capable of and dedicated to improving their lives as students. That means going beyond the little things and making systemic improvements that will positively change the way the student experience at your school.

With that said, my focus if I were running for Student Government Association President would be on civic engagement. Getting my classmates out to the polls would have benefits on a local and state level, and I would help not only my peers, but the administration as well.

Involvement in local politics is a great way to make sure that the voices of the students are heard within the community. Increasing the number of active and consistent voters on our campus would give us more leverage in decision making in my college town and with the administration. Having students vote would give us more politicians that agree with our values, and these representatives would be more likely to make decisions with the student body in mind.

Pushing the administration to focus more on voting would have a great impact on students at my school. The administration, the local community, and the student body would all be working together to increase civic engagement. That collaboration could also have benefits later on when decisions about infrastructure, environment, and budgets are being made by the city. Having students feel their voices are heard by those in power leads to a happier and more confident student body.

My campaign would focus on a movement that brings all of that together: creating a culture of voting on my campus. The positive benefits I’ve already mentioned would make drastic changes for students that are currently attending, but a culture of voting beyond that. Students coming in would know that they have a say in how decisions are made, and that the vote they cast has power behind in. In a time when college voter turnout is extremely low, it would make a big difference in how students view their time in school if they have confidence that the culture at their school cares about their values and decisions. This kind of change would affect students that decide to attend school more than 10 years in the future.

I’m passionate about the power of civic engagement because I know how driven and compassionate my peers are. I know that if they believed in the power of their vote they would use it to improve the lives of everyone in our local area. This kind of positive change is exactly what I would work toward if I were running for Student Government Association President at my university