The day is finally upon us. Nerves are frazzled. Debates are heated.
The aura of competition fills the crisp February air.
Student Government Association elections—they have arrived.
While I myself am not running for any position in SGA, I am fortunate enough to be very close to the elections this year.
Having gone to every meeting, I feel I have a fairly accurate idea as to what the issues this campus faces are and the corresponding theories on how they can be resolved.
Yet I am not here to climb a soapbox or to attempt to sway the vote in anyway whatsoever.
Instead, I am here to warn you and motivate you.
The issues we as students face every day on this campus range from minor ones, like a lack of napkins in a dining hall, to major issues, like being discriminated against by a peer.
No matter the gravity of the situation we, as students, deserve to have individuals in positions of power who can advocate and fight for us. This is the role of SGA.
They are elected students, chosen peers who are serving the student body as liaisons to the administration.
This power and responsibility are equally as grand as they are daunting.
If we, as a united student body, elect individuals who will not take a stand for us as students, who will not communicate information accurately and who will not be servant leaders, we will fail ourselves. The choice is ours.
SGA may take the reins for a majority of the year – but it is on this day, Monday, Feb. 28, that we have the power.
We have the opportunity to make our voices heard and to make a change with our own willpower and solidarity. And with 21 admirable candidates to choose from, there are so many options we need to be aware of.
Thus I warn you. I warn you against simply voting based on popularity and rapport.
Vote informed. Vote intelligently. Make yourself aware of the issues you face every day and then compare these issues to the platforms of each candidate.
Platforms are essentially promises candidates will work toward fulfilling during their tenure in office. Do those promises align with what you want to see changed?
Therefore, I attempt to motivate you – no, I implore you.
I am simply one voice amongst countless others. My opinion is a whisper in the storm. Yet I hope you hear me.
I ask that you inform yourselves, be educated and vote for those candidates who inspire you — not for those who have simply wowed you with their campaign antics.
The day is finally upon us. It is now up to you whether we look back upon this day as one filled with well-informed choices or as one at which we shake our heads in disappointment. You decide.
Sean Worley is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.
