I pass by so many people everyday

Class rep elections are in full swing and it’s a type of competition I’ve never quite experienced before.  Coming from a much smaller day school [we had less than ½ the number of students in my grade], the culture of “elections” was very different.  

At Andover, since there are proportionately more people, more people run as well.  I estimate there are at least 30 kids running for class rep this year in my grade.  The larger student body also means it’s harder to get to know everybody.  I find myself seeing people, but not knowing who they are, or even if they’re in my grade [I admit to having a poor “age” reading radar.  I honestly struggle to differentiate an 11th grader from a ninth grader].

This election, whether I win or not, is a reminder of how nothing worth having comes without struggle.  I’m learning how at Andover, nothing is going to come easily.  I have to work for every ounce of anything I want.  I have to finish all my homework to get sleep [or risk getting a strike if I wake up after lights out to finish homework].  I have to time manage in order to participate in sports and excel academically.  I have to leave my dorm and walk 5 minutes to get food.  These elections are teaching me this valuable lesson of how nothing is going to come easy. It is encouraging me to get to know more people. There are 220 people in my grade, and I need 125 signatures just to qualify to run in the election.  I need to know over half my grade.  

Yesterday was the first official day to begin collecting those 125 signatures and I have until Wednesday to do so.  When I first learned that I needed 125 signatures just to qualify to run, I immediately began freaking out.  In my head, I was thinking, how in the world am I going to meet 125 NEW PEOPLE?  HOW AM I GOING TO GET 125 SIGNATURES??? Forget my public speaking skills if I can’t get 125 signatures.  

Yesterday, I found out how real and possible it really is to get 125 signatures…to know half the grade. I got 65 signatures from ½ a half a day of collection since I didn’t start until 12 PM.  That means I’m more than halfway done and I only collected for a span of only 4 hours.  However, these numbers also signify that throughout the day, I pass by more than ¼ of my grade. And there was actually one kid who got 140 signatures in one day starting at 7 AM!

This lead to realize how many new people I could know and meet in one day.  For that one candidate who got 140 signatures, that means he passed by at least 140 students in 9th grade yesterday [or on any given day].  I probably pass by everybody in my grade everyday, but when I reflect on how many of them I actually know, there are far fewer.  I see opportunity in these numbers.  If I simply knew the name of every person I passed by in my grade on any particular weekday, then I would easily know everybody in my grade in 4 days.  The collection of signatures also made me realize how many people I walk by everyday, who are in my grade, whom I have never talked to.  It’s not too difficult getting to know everyone.  I pass by so many different people everyday on campus.  I simply have to set my mind out to get to know everyone.