Campaigning For An E-Board Position

As an extremely outgoing and social person, I tend to gravitate toward opportunities that will allow me to meet and interact with a lot of people. So, when I heard about the Quad Area Hall Council, I jumped at the chance to represent the student population of the freshman quad as their Director of Community Development.

The way that Hall Council works is that there are four members of the Council: the Executive Director, the Director of Finance, the Director of Council Relations, and the Director of Community Development, which was the position I was running for. Now, as this is an Executive Board (e-board) position, I first had to participate in the elections before I could get the post.

At the start, I was a bit intimidated by the prospect of losing, but after much thought and encouragement from my friends, I decided to take the chance and started preparing for my campaign. I bought colored chalk and wrote my name on the sidewalks so people would get familiar with my name and, hopefully, decide to vote.

I also designed a poster with all the details regarding my campaign, and then printed enough copies to hang on each floor of all the buildings on the Residential Quad. Later that day, my friends and I went around with tape to put the posters up, and in the process, I ended up meeting more people that I had expected. I introduced myself to a hundred strangers (and had to pronounce my name several times), and spread the word about my campaign. In hindsight, this was probably what helped me win this election.

At this point, however, I realized that winning the election didn’t matter to me anymore; I had gained more than I imagined. That I became acquainted with so many people, and am still friends with more than half of them, was the best part about this election. And when I checked the results Sunday morning, winning was only a cherry on top of the amazing experience that was the election!

If you’re interested in joining the executive board for a club or organization on campus, read fellow blogger Jackie’s “5 Reasons to Join an E-Board.”