Student Council elections at Edina High School are hard to miss. With an abundance of posters lined up along the commons and cafeteria, the elections are widely publicized. The elections have grown in popularity at EHS as more students have taken an interest in being a part of Student Council. “This year there were a lot more candidates who decided to run. My freshman year not many ran since the election process wasn’t very widely known,” junior candidate Kaylee Idrogo-Lam said. With a growing number of candidates, students must find new ways in the election process to differentiate themselves from others.
“Not trying to fit in with everyone or hop on the bandwagon, and staying true to yourself and your values is extremely important. Express how you can represent your class and changes that you want to see in the school,” junior candidate Tommy Moldrem said. Many candidates this year worked to make their posters stick out by using catchy slogans and flashy colors. “I tried to use something catchy that went with my name, so I did ‘Don’t worry, vote for Suri’ as my slogan,” freshman candidate Suri Austin said.
Other candidates used the help of their friends to collaborate and create their posters. “The posters were kinda stressful to make but my friends gave me lots of great ideas to help,” freshman candidate Amadine Dangles said. With the help of friends, Pinterest, and inspiration from past years, candidates this year were able to create a variety of unique posters hoping to increase their chances in the process. “Having unique posters may increase the chance that your classmates will vote for you during the voting period. My take on posters is that they are fun to make and see in the hallways and they can truly only help you in the process,” Idrogo-Lam said.
However, with the elections come many different emotions like stress and excitement, especially for first-time candidates. In addition to creating posters for the hallways, candidates must also fill out a questionnaire displaying their desire to be a part of the Student Council and their goals for improving the school. “Putting time and effort into your application is important as it’s a big part of the election process. You want to make sure you thoroughly talk about the topics in the questionnaire and show your contributions to the Student Council,” Idrogo-Lam said. For first-time candidates, the writing component of the election can be overwhelming because of the pressure to create thorough and thoughtful responses. “The writing in the questionnaire can be a lot, but if you do it in small chunks it makes it much more manageable,” Austin said.
Despite the workload, candidates felt that the process was rewarding because their classmates were able to recognize and discuss their running in the election. “It was enjoyable having your posters up and having people talk to you about it or mention something to you in the hallways like ‘I saw your poster up,’ that was really fun,” Austin said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on January 25, 2024.
