Rolling Into Elections Leadership students reflect on the importance of AHS Elections. By Alexis May Go and Dorothy Hoang
G
oing into the 2019 ASB elections, senior Hannaliza Sapida didn’t expect to run for ASB president. She initially wanted to run for the position of secretary. However, after further pondering, she settled down with running for ASB president. As the time of elections are approaching, it is time for Sapida to dethrone herself. ASB elections occur every Feb. with a handful of students choosing to run for a position in the student body. Last year, candidates persuaded voters to vote for them because they had experience in Leadership, are hardworking and trustworthy, and even included their resume of being previous class presidents. Many of those who chose to run for a position in the student body do so because they want to make a change. Sapida and ASB Vice President Hailey Silvera go to the district office every other Tuesday to give the Board of Education updates on occurrences at AHS. In addition, she attends ASB meetings, meetings with class presidents, commissioners, and school site councils that happen every month. Sapida said that she decided to take on this important role in order to make a change. “People would have problems within the school and I [felt] like leadership was very onto itself and unless you were a Leadership kid, you couldn’t really make things happen,” Sapida said. Junior Nathalie Bombase will be the only candidate running for next year’s ASB President. Her motives behind running for ASB President were because her peers envisioned her as the next ASB President and she believed that the ASB President held the most important role at school.
How important is voting in AHS elections? Based on a survey of 223 students at AHS...
624
CAMPUS
“I remember students in leadership telling me at the beginning at the school year that they already had the idea of me taking over as ASB President when I was a senior and I guess that got me thinking that maybe I was capable of doing something like this… if you’re a class president you don’t necessarily have the same power that an ASB President would hold,” Bombase said. Sapida recalled activities director Jennifer Rodriguez telling the 2019 candidates to write down their desired position but that they can change if they wished later on. Sapida decided to switch from the race for Secretary to the race for President because she felt that it would give her more control and to hear insight from other people. However, the question of the matter seems to be about how effective campaign mottos are. Sapida admitted that not all voters vote because they want to be involved in their school but rather they wanted to support their friends who were running for a position. “Of course it’s something that I would like to change within this upcoming term but people vote to vote on you know their friends or the people they know,” Sapida said. “I feel like a person can be really spirited, they can participate in every spirit day, they can attend all the events but... if they don’t know the candidates, I would understand as to why they don’t feel the need to vote,” Sapida said. Bombase believes students who vote chose to vote because a well known classmate is running. Not only is populariwty a factor but also the voters’ judgement of whether or not a candidate is deserving of their position. “I really think it’s both [popularity and a candidate’s capatibility for their position].
There’s no way to control the popularity aspect of an election. There’s always going to be someone that a lot of people know and someone that not as many people know. Students who are going to vote have an idea of who deserves the position and who doesn’t,” Bombase said. On the other hand, not all people choose to vote. Activities director Jennifer Rodriguez, believes that people who choose to not participate do not care about their voice being heard. “It’s like some [students] don’t dress up and participate because they really don’t care or some people think my vote doesn’t count or there’s only one candidate so it doesn’t matter.” Rodriguez said. Also, interestingly, in most of the 2019 positions, there was only one candidate running. Sapida again saw as to why people did not vote in the previous election. As her term is coming to an end, Sapida wants to say this to the next ASB President: “I want [you] to be stern [... and] I want you to be friendly like create a relationship with the people that you’re working with but at the same time build that respect to be taken seriously and be kinda like determined [because] being ASB President is a lot and you are going to feel overworked [...] But just remember that at the end of every event [and knowing that you worked so hard] it’s very rewarding,” Sapida said. •
Vote for your candidate on Thursday, February 27th in the quad at lunch!
