As Parker’s election season is upon us, hallways are filled with chatter on potential candidates, lunches are spent watching debates, tears are shed as we mourn the five pounds we didn’t gain eating sweets at Democrafest, and the high school waits anxiously to see who will take the leadership positions within Student Government for the next year. However, the excitement of election season always leads me to question the way we choose our leaders.

Anyone can, theoretically, run for any position, given they are able to obtain twenty-five signatures, but the reality is quite different. Traditionally upperclassmen run for offices held by an individual — Cabinet positions, Social Justice Committee head, Community Committee head — listing off their many leadership positions and experiences that have prepared them for the role they wish to have. Everyone else has the option of putting together an often cross-grade group to run to be the head of a committee. This is arguably the easiest way to get involved in student government and is often needed on your resume if you want to land a solo position. 

However, groups are not formed based on who is most passionate about the work a committee does, or who has the best ideas for events or ways to better Parker through the work of their committee. Instead, they are often purely social. Choosing the committee they think would be the easiest, most fun, look best on their transcript, or even just the one where they would run unopposed. Committee heads are often a group of friends, cross-grade friendships exploited, and little siblings of friends found to have representation from more grades. But, more often than not, you cannot find such a group if you do not have good relationships with your peers. With a student body that wouldn’t be particularly accepting of the person they don’t know well who emailed them saying they are passionate about the committee’s work, social standing often determines one’s ability to hold office. 

When it comes to voting, most students aren’t particularly concerned with platforms and ideas: many haven’t seen the work different committees do or simply don’t care. Voting for committee heads often comes down to who you are friends with because often the student body doesn’t care if committee heads are qualified.

However, when it comes to bigger, often individually held positions, prior experience in student government is often what indicates a candidate’s qualifications. But for students who don’t have good relationships within Parker, or are too scared to reach out to find people to run with for committees, it is often hard to get involved in student government at a later point. While appointed positions are always a good alternative, it is not uncommon to apply and be rejected for appointed positions year after year, especially if you don’t have prior experience in student government.

While our election process is not entirely a popularity contest, social standing is crucial for success. Student government mirrors the problem we see every day in our halls: socially isolated students — who are often that way due to the bullying that occurs within our building without repercussions — are also isolated from extra-curricular opportunities.