Thursday, March 30, 2006
Of trials, and tribulations - 7:12 PM
We had divine weather in East Lansing today. 18 Deg C!!!!!! Please say its the ideal temperature!! Oh, even if you said it isn't... IT IS!! haha, I saw people in their berms, gauchos, skirts and for the first time since I don't know when, without their bulky coats! We were freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! woopie.Though I really wanna be hyped up, weather forecasts predict showers for the weekends. darn. But again, showers are fine. I'll be indoors. hahah... Even if I have to step outside (like walking from my dorm to the potluck party venue), at least I can wear my seafoam Zara trench coat! Plus, my umbrella is apple green so it sorta matches! Shiyun & Angie, you all remember that one? I was home last summer and Shiyun msged me bright and early and said its the day of the ZARA sale. So I called Angie at that unearthly hour and screamed into her ear 'ZARA SALEEEEEEE!!!!!!!' And we met in the fastest time we could ever gather ourselves together, in town. No chance to wear it since YESTERDAY, when the weather was an optimistic 10deg. 10 deg is not TOO bad la, actually... anything above 5 deg is pretty decent.
Where did I wear the coveted trench to? Nowhere exciting, just 5 steps away, N125 BCC. (bcc = business college complex), where the Hospitality Association (HA) Executive Board 2006/7 elections were being held. For those who don't know, I ran for one of the positions last year, but lost out to a blonde and busty sorority girl. To stand up there and face the past and future leaders of The School who are there to judge you, to pit yourselves against other people, to make a short speech in front of strangers is FREAKIN SCARY. Whats more, the fact that I had to choose a position that one of the most popular (that is greatly challenged), well-known figures within the HB Office just didn't help. But though I lost, I took away a few lessons from that experience.
1) Popular people always win in such circumstances.
2) Voting is never FAIR. It will never be.
3) Running for a position is equally important as winning one, because with the first try, comes the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Last year, at this very time of the year, I had run for HA E-board, CAREER EXPO E-board, Les Gourmet E-board and Auction E-board. Out of 4, I only got 1, which was Auction. Thats a success rate of 25%, rather appalling I must say. But I've learnt that as long as you persevere, doors will open for you, intentionally or unintentionally. To be honest, Auction was my LAST CHOICE. Cos I didn't volunteer for the event, and didn't know much about it. They had to extend the dateline for applications cos I doubt enough people applied. So I guess I was heng enough to pick one that no one else did, and I got it. That must be the case, cos my interview was god-awful. (remember, at that time, I didn't know Parimal, Bhavin, Chad and Carolyn *they conducted the interview* yet, so they didn't know that I was funny) Nevertheless, I got Auction and I am SO THANKFUL that I got something. And it actually turned out to be fun!
Anyway, for last night's election.... Nominees (they nominated themselves), had to prepare a short speech, followed by questions opened to the floor, if any. One question that keeps popping up was 'What other leadership experience do you have?' People like the blonde girl and some others of course had no problem at all ... ' I was Director of This for this event, Director of that for that event, Internal chair for my SORORITY...' etc... I thought about it for a long time, and it bothered me alot. Another question that was repeatedly brought up was the lack of participation by most HB students, who aren't involved in any clubs or events of The School.
Last night, I saw a sea of new faces running for positions, save for a few that I'm honestly rather sick of. When you talk about people not stepping up, look around you. THey are new to HA elections, they are there to promote themselves. There is definitely no lack of participation... But are we, as voters, open-minded enough to accept people with a less impressive resume? Or do we think 'welll....she's sorta nice, but I think I will have to go with the other girl, cos she just has had more leadership experience ?' Experiences are created due to opportunities. Opportunites are given by people.
If they never get anything cos they 'don't have enuff experience', then they're not EVER gonna have experience. Just like how you reject a potential intern based on that. HARLOW? Isn't that precisely why they're there, requesting for an experience? Besides, its HA. Its not like they're running for the White House for goodness' sake! Is anything THAT hard to do on the Board that no one can LEARN how to do it?
And then, I thought about leadership. Whatever past experiences, they are all on paper. They make our resume SHINE, or at least they're supposed to. But whether someone is a good leader or not is really objective. And when they brought up the fact that 'not alot of people within the school step up to leadership positions', I asked myself, 'What makes a good leader?' The fact that s/he is able to organise a 500 attendee event? The fact that s/he is able to maintain thousands of dollars in an account? The fact that s/he is organized enuff to send EMAILS? Or what? You may understand instructions and plan events well, but does that make you a LEADER?
In my opinion, what fundamentally makes a good leader, is that essentially, s/he has to have a loyal following. Not all of us are cut out to be leaders, and not all of us CAN be leaders, obviously. There have to be leaders, and there have to be followers.
But unfortunately, I didn't have any guts to challenge what they said/comment/asked the nominees. Hopefully, next year when I become a Senior, I will finally raise my hand to defend/lambast someone. I know how they feel, standing there, having been there myself. Last year, I had to keep my key in my pocket, so I could have something to fiddle with whenever I was nervous. But oh well, essentially, whats important is that they have tried. There. Because there was a first time, there will be a 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Keep it up, and you will get the world. =)