You’ve seen posters around school and multiple posts on social media, all encouraging voters for a specific reason. What are they all for? The answer is ASB Elections, where freshmen, sophomores, and juniors all campaign to take one spot in the thirteen member Associated Student Body.
Simply put, ASB is a student-run government that represents the student body, and they implement ideas for the school and organize community events. The winning candidates are, freshmen Thomas Baldonado, Smrithi Suresh, and Daniel Vong, sophomores Audrey Lee, Dev Masrani, and Ally Yi, and juniors Claire Dong, Caroline Kloes, Joseph Pham, Anagrace Rodriguez, Ethan Roland, Ali Salehi, and Hannah Warner.The process behind ASB elections are quite demanding. In total, there are five major aspects in the application process that interested students must complete.
To start off, to register as a candidate, students must sign up in the ASB office. From there, students will be given forms, and it will be up to them to fill them out. In order to be considered a qualified candidate for ASB, students must not only be sociable around school but they must also be a role model inside the classroom. To prove that, candidates are required to have teacher recommendations from all their teachers. Finally, students must provide a personal statement explaining the reason why they are running, a name card describing themselves, and a minute-long speech.  However, while the application process may seem simple, it is not enough just to apply. In order to gain more votes, students’ campaigns must be strong and creative. Candidates have to advertise themselves across the entire school. At the end of the day, the ones who will be voting is the student body, so no matter how popular students may be, their campaigns must reach out to all students. Candidates are taking different approaches, to increase their chances of being voted. Junior applicant Claire Dong, is offering a traditional, yet effective campaign plan. Dong, who is running with fellow junior Joseph Pham, and freshman Maulin Shah, is making a poster, and giving away backpack tags and online flyers. Dong explains their methods, stating that she will have a “clean campaign driven by an earnest desire to positively affect the school!” However, freshman candidate, Smrithi Suresh, is presenting a less typical plan. Suresh is intent on not distributing any tags and stickers, or posting profusely on social media. Instead, Suresh expresses, “I want everyone to vote, not because of how popular you are, but on how capable one may be, to enable change and become a true leader.” However, is popularity alone enough to win? Out of the nineteen students from first to third years running, ultimately only thirteen will achieve a spot on the ASB. All candidates must bring forth strong campaigns, publicizing themselves in various ways.
Candidates must have a strong will for leadership, in order to be inspired to run for ASB. Sophomore applicant, Jared Sitton shares his story, saying “I want to contribute to the Wilcox community, and I believe the best way to do so is by taking action and contributing to Wilcox by helping plan, organize and improve school events with ASB.” Being part of ASB is no easy task. Members of the student body are expected to plan and produce exceptional results in events including Homecoming, Fantastics, and sports rallies. Junior candidate, Ethan Roland also wishes to be more involved with the Wilcox community, stating, “Freshman year I learned about how many fun memories could be created through the schools clubs, events, and activities. I had so much fun that I wanted to be the one hosting these events and encouraging others to participate and have as much fun as I did.” In order to keep events hyped, officers also need to bring with them new ideas. Suresh already has a plan, explaining, “My goal in running for ASB is to help bring in a new perspective and positive change. This includes more fundraisers and community events and making our presence known within our community.” All candidates express their intents on bringing about good change to the Wilcox community if they are elected.
Competition is definitely fierce in the ASB elections, but that does not mean that it is unfriendly. Although keen on winning, candidates also wish for the best for the Wilcox student body, and are supportive of everybody running. Prior to the election, Dong expresses her feelings on how, “I don’t exactly view the other candidates as “competition,” because all of them have their unique merits that make them qualified for ASB. No matter what happens in this election, Wilcox will be in good hands!”