one year since
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 9:57 PM
Posting this just because I wanted to spill out thoughts I have about council and elections since the new batch of councillors have just been decided and announced today. Quite amazing looking back that exactly a year ago I was in these candidates' shoes, being on stage in front of Apollo, hanging up my banner proudly in the central plaza and campaigning.
Turned out my name wasn't announced over the PA system. This is the very reason why I wanna blog today because I hope people realise that there's so, so much more to explore in JC outside of council, and the fact that the experiences and stories of those who have failed to garner enough votes are usually not heard or mentioned.
I was devastated when I wasn't elected, and literally burst into tears the second I knew that fact. Whatever I have spent time and money and effort I have spent on campaigning was essentially useless. Or so that was what I thought. Looking back today, I am truly grateful that I wasn't elected as a councillor, and that I had the opportunity to campaign for council despite not getting in.
There are several reasons why I am glad I wasn't elected and that council is not everything. (For any councillors out there who happen to be reading this, I do not mean to offend any of you if by any chance I somehow do in the rest of this post. In fact, I really respect what all of you have done for the student body.)
1) Council limits the scope of what you can explore during your 2 years in junior college.
As everyone knows, JC life is really fast and short. Council needs lots of dedication and time and commitment. Yes, they do plan lots of school events, but other than Council, you can't really afford to have time to do other stuffs the school has for you if you are in Council. Yes, many are willing to sacrifice these 'other stuffs' for Council, but as time went pass, I realised that I would rather have the opportunity to try out all these 'other stuffs', then getting stuck with doing only Council work despite how unique and interesting their work sessions are.
If I were in Council,
- I wouldn't be taking part in so many performances with MAD hiphop - ranging from Dance Night in the Auditorium, flashmobs in Vivocity, to even dancing outdoors in the sweltering heat for World Water Day when few people were actually watching
- I wouldn't have the chance to experience exactly what Science research is like - spending the whole December holidays in the same NTU lab and meeting my very capable and to a certain extent inspiring mentor, even winning an award in SSEF
- I wouldn't have participated in Contract Bridge competitions (I bet tons of you have no idea how it is like haha) and playing with various people ranging from people our age to old, married couples
- I wouldn't be able to forge a nice bond with my very cute P4 malay tutee in my weekly tutoring CIP, and understanding the world of P4 minds so much (Yep there's councillors in my CIP too but I feel that I was able to commit to more and most of the sessions than them)
- I wouldn't go through so many other random interviews HAHA, well since I didn't get into Council I pretty much had to go hunt for my own stuffs I wanted to try, which included applications and interviews like C&B Exco, APYLS, CenTaD Glasgow, Bugil Korean Exchange Programme, OCIP Nepal etc etc. (Some which I succeeded, some failed, while some was rejected by yours truly lol)
- I would most probably not be with this stuck-with-me-for-nearly-a-year dude
Hence, I am grateful for everything above that I have not missed (and probably more other stuffs I can't think about now) for being in Council.
2) I don't really like the exclusivity associated with Council.
Well I know councillors themselves don't want and don't intend to be an exclusive group of people, but for me (I don't know if other people feel that way too), I somehow instinctively view them as an exclusive bunch. For one they have their very own council bench, I'm not arguing that they shouldn't have a bench themselves, but rather that that bench has somehow added to that exclusive factor. Perhaps it is how the benches are so seperated from the school population. In fact, I do feel kind of intimidated when I approach the council bench for welfare stuffs. (Okay maybe that's just me hmm)
And also how they usually congregate as one huge mass bunch, yes it's a natural thing for them to stick together since they are close, but it's also natural for me to feel intimidated LOL (hope I kinda make sense there).
Plus, the fact that I am not particularly close to any councillors further increases the intensity of exclusiveness that I feel amongst the councillors (weird sentence structure sorry LOL). I am not much of a social butterfly, so although I know many councillors don't mean harm and are actually very approachable, the exclusivity still remains. :/ (sorry councillors!)
3) I think I would be burdened if I were a councillor and being constantly labelled and viewed as a councillor by peers and teachers
Councillors are usually viewed to be near perfect students, and I am far far faaarrrrr from one. (Okay that's maybe why I didn't get elected TROLOLOL). As the academic year passes by with each month getting tougher than the previous, grades getting worse with time last year, I am glad that I don't have to live up to the expectations of a councillor in terms of academics. I feel very much like a free-spirited soul and I am allowed to set my own targets and my own expectations of myself without the need to protect my own image.
And the only councillor in my class is like some perfect crazy zaikia god of academics, if I were a councillor too I think I will zibei so badly that JC life becomes horrible and torturous LOL I am serious.
All in all, I really hope those juniors whose names were not announced would be able to pick themselves up soon, continue living with pride. Many seniors like myself have been in the same situation as you, but from those people that I know, they are very, very accomplished, successful and happy thus far in their JC life without being a councillor.
When one door closes, another door opens.
