When I was in 9th grade, I got up the nerve to run for Student Council. I had never in my life thought about this idea, and I was quite excited, but at the same time nervous and stressed for the upcoming events. I almost fell off a cliff at the thought of coming up with an idea for a video, and then actually making one! I wouldn’t call myself shy, but at certain times in my life, I seem to misplace my creativity and self confidence, like a dog loses its bone. I’m sure it happens to everyone, but this was one of those times in my life that seemed crucial, and it was not ok for this to be happening! I resorted to asking many of my friends for ideas, and even my Mom and Dad. They all gave me wonderful suggestions, but it seemed to be that I kept changing them almost a hundred times a day! I kept having doubts about every thought that came to my mind. Finally, one day I came to a conclusion, and used an idea that was completely mine. Everything was going great. I had a perfect idea, and lots of helping hands that wanted to be in my video.
The day came to record my video. I was confident and ready. As I walked into the room, I saw millions of other people, but I soon began to wonder where all my friends were. I had friends that were already with me, but some had not showed up. I got a few text messages from friends saying that they wouldn’t be able to come. I could’ve chosen to be upset because they had not come when they said they would, but I understood since this was an after school event. Besides, many had homework stacked up high, as if it were a pile of pancakes ready to be drizzled with syrup and “snarfed” down. I then started to realize that my best friend was also having some of our same friends be in her video too. She has been one of my greatest friends ever since 7th grade. We both knew that we were running together, but we hoped that we would both make it. It never occurred to us that we’d actually be running against each other! We were both put in a hard situation because we didn’t want to hurt each others feelings.
The video turned out to be great, and with no hard feelings between my friend and I. It wasn’t as great as it could have been, especially if everything had worked out as planned, but my thoughts screamed with relief because I had finished the video! I was so relieved that I could’ve accidentally started singing for joy in front of everyone! But that was not the end of my experience. I still had plenty of essays to do, posters to design, and even an interview.
The big day came to have my interview. I was sweating bullets I was so nervous! I arrived a little earlier than I was supposed to. I watched others as they sped like a cheetah out of the classroom door because they were so nervous. I listened to each one as they told the others waiting for their turn out in the hallway, how embarrassing it was. “They turned on random music and made me dance freestyle for 30 seconds!” he said. “They told me to sing a song,” she mentioned cautiously. As everyone heard these reports, they seemed to be getting more and more anxious. But then I thought of the words that my mom had said to me, “Don’t be nervous, just be yourself and have a good time.” As I heard someone call my name to come in for the interview, her words kept cycling through my head as I walked through the door… “Just be yourself…just be yourself…” The interview ended up being great! I was asked to sing a song, but I’m quite comfortable with that, and besides, all I sang was Twinkle Twinkle little star!
The day came to find out who would make student council or not. I was already having a horrible day because I didn’t feel good, but to make my day even worse, I didn’t get the news I was expecting. The paper I had received, notified me that I did not make student council. At first I seemed to be missing my emotions. I wasn’t sad, mad, or happy. I just didn’t have much time to think about what had just happened. It wasn’t until I got home when I realized that all the hard work I had done staying up late, writing essays, planning video ideas, making a video, creating unique posters, and preparing for an interview had all gone down the drain! I kept thinking that I had done all that stuff for no benefit whatsoever. But I was definitely wrong!
Although I didn’t become a member of the student council, I still grew from the experience in many ways. I made new friends, I experienced new possibilities, I discovered just how time consuming and challenging it would be on student council, and I discovered new talents! My creativity grew like a tiny seed growing into a beautiful flower. I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t upset that I didn’t win, but I learned to think about it from a different perspective, and it’s not such a big deal anymore. Sometimes it’s good to have these kinds of challenges because we learn and grow from them, and I’m a much better person because of the experience.