I am running for freshman class president and would highly appreciate any tips. I have written a few details below in case it helps:
I attend a magnet high schoolin NJ, USA.
I am not in the most popular "clique" but I am fairly well liked and popular among "normal kids"
we must give a 90 second speech
we are allowed 5 posters
I am known as a good student- but not as introvert though
On a side note, many people claim to for high school elections to be a popularity contest. In my school there is a group of approximately 40 popular kids ( 20 girls, 20 boys). They are not mean to anyone but they tend to stick to their friend group. As of now, 6 kids from that group are running. Only 3 kids, including me, are running from "the rest" of the school.
Thanks in advance for your support! It means the world to me!
Honestly just be yourself in the process of applying and in your speech don’t be too boring and add a bit of entertainment. If you don’t win dont worry! You will have many other opportunities to become a leader and you shouldn’t worry Freshman year
In all honesty, six people from the same “popular” friend group running actually works in your favor - they’ll split the “popular kid” vote between the six of them, meaning less competition for you.
You don’t need flashy campaign promises to win. In your speech, just talk about your positive attributes and your credentials (have you done anything leadership-related in the past?) that would make you a good class president. If you’re already well-liked and known as smart, that’s half the battle.
Don’t stress yourself out about it too much. The previous poster is right in that you’ll have an insane amount of opportunities to become a leader over the course of HS - this is just the beginning.
When you guys vote for class president, vice president, secretary, etc. do you base it off who you are friends with, who is popular, or who is the best candidate. I believe most people subconsciously base it off their friend group… is there a way for me to overcome that? Thanks for your advice!
Something I would add–make sure your peers know what the class president even does. A lot of people at my school (me included) never vote because it seems pointless.
Why do you want to be freshman class president?
What do YOU think they do?
Ask some of your friends: What would make you want to vote for a freshman class president?
I would imagine it would include:
1)They know who you are
2) You are known as someone who would take it seriously/get involved
3) You would try to get stuff done
So make sure to talk to people in your different classes about the fact that you are running so they know who you are.
Talk about what types of things you would do.
Make sure to keep any promises you make in any aspect of your life…so if you say that you are going to do this part of a group project, follow through.
If you don’t know what you would do, look at the minutes from previous meetings to see what the freshman class does…do they raise money for the prom or ?
Are you able to use social media at all? You could change your profile picture to a Vote for Kanna! and start liking a lot of posts from students in your school as a way to get your name out there… Also could use social media to promote accomplishments of people or groups in your school. This could be relate to campaign promises - advocate for better use of social media to promote your school’s reputation and celebrate accomplishments.
Thanks for your suggestions! I will start to implement them right away. I have a tough situation: Me and my best friend are both running. Therefore, we both have a very big social circle… of the same people. Therefore, I won’t be able to get many of the votes from the social circle. Any ideas? Thanks!!!