<p>The position was a spot on the City Council which is our city government’s legislative body. The position would allow the student to voice opinions regarding allocations for the school budget, programs available to our high school, etc. I imagine it to be a little more substantial than class president but even so, still a popularity contest.</p>
<p>In the end, aren’t all elections “popularity contests?” For example, Barack Obama was elected in 2008 with virtually no experience other then being a small-time senator who voted present most of the time but he was elected because he was likeable and persuasive. Qualities that made him extremely popular.</p>
<p>When I was in high school, I would also have been afraid to be in that race for fear of losing. To give you an example of the way voting goes at my high school: the class used to vote for who was going to be the graduation speaker. One year, they voted for a student who wasn’t even going to graduate because he failed everything and didn’t care about anything. Let’s just say there is no longer student voting for graduation speakers. Oh, and when I was a freshman, the pair who got voted homecoming king and queen got arrested when they both showed up to the homecoming dance drunk.
Yes, high schoolers are not well-informed, fair voters. Neither is the general population, though, and the idea that all politicians start out on the same foot is also very naive - look at the amount of money and connections that go into politics.
I said I probably would have made the same choice in high school. In one instance I did make a similar choice to avoid the chance of an embarrassing (and I thought undeserved) failure, because I was good at other things and didn’t need to prove myself. But now I wish I’d done it. I have plenty of chances to succeed, but I’m still afriad of putting myself in a position where I might, or even probably will, fail. Learning to fail, even when it seems grossly unfair, is a necessary life skill, and it’s one I’m still working on.</p>
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You guaranteed your failure because you projected your insecurity onto your peers. This is how social anxiety begins. When you think there is danger to your reputation out there, you preserve your safety above all else and you probably enjoy the feeling of security that comes from inaction. But deep inside, you know you failed. The nagging regret eats away at your self esteem and feeds into your perception of your peers as critics waiting to tear you apart. Every decrease in your social sphere feels like a relief until your new social sphere starts to scare you and your new refuge is an even smaller circle of friends and less communication with them. You become uncomfortable competing in any way… then participating in ECs… then going to school… then getting a job… then talking to friends and family… then leaving the house.</p>
<p>Do yourself a favor and stop thinking that way immediately, rather than 20 years from now when high school popularity contests are so inconsequential compared to the problems of adult life that you need someone else’s help to sort through your memories and find out how it all began. Your life is determined more by how you think of yourself than by how others of you.</p>
<p>The person most critical of you will always be you.</p>
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<p>I don’t see why you’d have been humiliated. People don’t care in the least who won or lost some little high school election.</p>
<p>@HeyItsNick, you really can’t compare high school elections to the national elections. They are nothing alike at all. </p>
<p>High school elections are childish and lame. They are most definitely popularity contests. Not every high schooler is a responsible citizen who will pick the candidate with more merit.</p>
<p>@migraine: Popularity != humor. The most popular do win. The most humorous: not necessarily.</p>
<p>You made it sound like there were multiple other people running…so wouldn’t there be multiple losers? You wouldn’t be the only one, if you did lose.</p>
<p>I think I’d be running against 3 people, all of whom have other leadership positions in the school.</p>
<p>I personally don’t think you should have dropped out. You have no shot at winning if you don’t gi e yourself the chance. You may be surprised if the results. If I were you I would email your principal and tell him you want to be unremoved from the race.</p>
<p>To me, this seems like a position that one should have to be nominated for; it seems like it needs a person who knows what they’re doing, not just the most popular person.</p>
<p>Other class elections, like class president? Total popularity contest. Take me last year: I ran for class president against this super peppy, super annoying girl who acts better than everyone. I had posters designed by my friend, a student in the Commercial Art program who had won awards for her art, I had t-shirts made for me and my friends, and a lot (or so I thought) of people felt the same way about her as I did. My speech was a lot better, and I, in general, was better qualified for the position. But she still won. And honestly, I’m not that bitter. I’ll be busy enough as Key Club Editor and Interact Treasurer.</p>
<p>Hey I thought the same thing when I went out for class president. The most popular guy in my class (also my ex…awks) was running against me, along with a guy who has held class president ever since middle school junior council. I really wanted to run because i knew i had great ideas to bring to the table. Did I expect to win? HECK NO! I just did it because I knew it was worth a shot. Long story short…I won! Everyone came up to me at the end of the day were like “I voted for you!” “i really liked your speech!” etc etc etc. Half the people that voted for me, I for sure thought would vote for the other two guys. Maybe you’ll be surprised with the elections! 
I say go for it!</p>
<p>I dropped out of the election three days ago.</p>
<p>Everything in highschool that allows students to vote is a popularity contest unfortunately. The President, VP, and two other members of SGA at my school are really attractive (all girls lol), and these girls aren’t even remotely intelligent. There was a picture on Twitter of all of them in panties on the floor facing away from the camera that they put up themselves. -sigh-</p>
<p>Oh preamble1776.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Doesn’t matter if you knew you were going to lose. Follow through! You’ll probably never see most of these people ever again once you go off to college. Who cares? Well, you do. It’s embarrassing to see how afraid of embarrassment you are. No need to be so afraid of your peers.</p>