Another reason to vote in campus elections
By Jeff Agnew
Running a campaign for student government is one of the hardest things any student can do. While running as a candidate, I experienced my fair share of heartbreak and exultation in my six campaigns for student government.
Running a campaign is very hard work and the amount of time and money you need to run a successful campaign is quite often overwhelming. Creating and financing your election material, building your campaign team as well as campaigning all across campus takes vital time away from your schoolwork and social life.
My experiences as a candidate were, for the most part, positive. No matter how bad the election seemed to get I could always count on my friends and family to give me that confidence to keep on going. I always enjoyed questions from students and hearing their own ideas on how to improve life at Mount Royal. Even students that didn’t vote for me would let me know that they still respected the fact that I was running.
There is a darker side to elections as well. You are running against other candidates and that competition can lead to some nasty things being said and done. Most times it’s due to the high amount of stress that is involved and at the end of day I can honestly say that I still respected my opponents because they were all in the same boat as I was, and I knew what they were sacrificing to run a campaign.
To be a successful candidate for student government you have to sell yourself to a large group of people you have never met before, most of whom don’t have enough time or energy to deal with much more than getting through their next class.
This is not student apathy, this is reality. Being a student is not an easy task and having a candidate ask you to vote for them because (fill in some campaign spiel here) vs the 30 assignments that are due this week means voting is not top of your priority list.
If you are a student not running in the election try to be courteous to anyone asking for your vote, because they have put their life on hold to make your life better. Anyone running in this election, in my mind, deserves major accolades and respect. They are running to represent Mount Royal students and it is consuming a huge amount of each candidate’s time, which they need to study and be a successful student. If you are wondering why you should vote this election, let me make it clear, the people running are doing so for your benefit so the least you can do is spare them five minutes and mark an x for their hard work.
