Francis Garcia | Week 10: What It Means to Be Class Senator
What does a class senator do, and how can a leader in general use their influence to serve the people they represent?
A class senator, in short, works with the other class executive members and the officer team in class council to meet the needs of their graduating class and ensure it is the most memorable and least stressful year possible. After a few years of attending American and participating in a variety of events class council has hosted, I realized that part of the specific work that a class senator is called to do involves how the whole class is represented, especially during very important school events like Spirit Week (which may explain why the petition lists Spirit Week management and coordination as a priority for elected class senators). As a candidate, I explicitly posted about invigorating class unity and spirit as one of my top priorities if elected to be class senator because I learned that the more united and spirited a class is, the better the reputation of the class as a whole, which then extends to the group of students put in charge of serving their class. I hope that whoever is given the honor to serve as class senator vows to use the power they are granted through the role to serve the class of 2026, understand as much of the individual personalities and talents of the students as possible, and use them to further unite the class as one and fulfill whatever it is they need to thrive in high school.
But I believe these practices should not be restricted to any leadership position; rather, they should be applied to any situation and circumstance that calls to help others because being a leader does not mean holding all the control and using such power for one’s own benefit. To be a leader means going down to the level of the people being led and understanding what they need.
Anyone can be a leader, actually. Being a leader means being a servant to other people and using the power instilled in them to help those they are leading and build up future leaders because putting the needs of others first empowers everyone else to do their best and keep their head up high for the best to come.
Photo Credit: my senior friend, Daniella Marcel :]
Hello Francis,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I would like to say that your efforts to be our class senator have not gone unnoticed, and your passion to want to be in that position is truly inspiring, even though the results may not have gone as intended. In your blog, I really appreciate how you look at the role of senator through multiple different aspects, including organizing the class, as well as understanding the class of 2026. Through this, you really demonstrate how even a role such as senator, which many people strive to be, holds an importance that many others do not realize, an important role in the lives of students as well. Many people who aim to be a class senator probably do not realize the level of understanding required to hold that role, and more than that, they probably believe the power will be vested in them. However, more accurately, like you stated, senators do not hold the power, and instead, a good senator will go out of their way to take a servile position for the class, which exemplifies what a leader should do.
Hi Francis!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed listening to your vision for American in the future and thought many of the ideas that you hoped to implement were amazing and beneficial. I think one of the most important plans American should work on is bridging the gap between leadership and students whether it be in regard to making decisions on school events or other things, all that you said is true and should be implemented. I also loved how you described what it means to be a leader and explained how anyone could be one. I truly enjoyed what you had to say this week and look forward to reading what you write next week!