Why You Should be Involved with Student Council | #8
Thomas Lin, April 29th, 2023
One of the main features of high school that separates itself from elementary and middle school is the breadth of extracurricular activities a student can participate in. From sports teams, concert bands, clubs such as chess club, STEM club and fashion club, or DECA and HOSA, they are all opportunities to build a student’s identity and develop new skills. However, one of the most well-known yet often misunderstood opportunities is Student Council/Student Government. It is a role in which responsibility can go far and wide if the student is committed to implementing change and planning events, and the experience from being involved would serve as valuable life skills and resume building for the future.
So one may ask, what is Student Council? The Student Council in Canada serves as a committee of students that advocates and communicates for students’ voices, opinions, interests, and concerns. They are the body of students that would plan your proms and semi-formals, advertise and create spirit weeks and fundraisers, host talent shows and various webinars, and conduct mental health and equity-related surveys within the school. High school with just classes all semester long for a whole year would be boring for most people, so we need extra-curricular activities to entertain us. It is a stage of people’s lives where we want to build connections and create a difference for our community through the means we can. If you join Student Council, not only can you provide yourself with connections with teachers and fellow like-minded peers, but also make high school a memorable and savoring experience for the rest of the school.
However, you may still have questions and doubts about the details of how Student Council works and what benefit it may bring you. Therefore, I would be focusing on three reasons why I joined my school’s Student Council.
One of the main reasons for joining Student Council for me was I wanted an opportunity to expand on my soft skills in communication and public speaking. When I first joined the Student Council in grade 9 during the pandemic, I had first-hand experience with what it is like to work so closely with teachers and other fellow (often older) peers. Even during a period when communication became virtual, Student Council gave me an opportunity to expand my public speaking and communication skills. Honestly speaking, the Student Council in high school is a safe and inclusive environment where students are not only free from judgment but are welcomed to express their opinions and values on what they believe the school should look like. For newcomers from grade 8, Student Council is completely different from ordinary movie portrayals of high school students, the older peers are welcoming and attentive to your thoughts, and the teachers are supportive with their advice and suggestions. As one takes a more active role in the Student Council, more opportunities of speaking in front of an audience will arise. Whether that is during the weekly lunch meetings, communicating with principals and staff, speaking at events such as Grade 9 night, or at parent-teacher conferences. It is from those challenges that your confidence and public speaking skills develop, and it is a path of personal growth in high school that is hard to attain elsewhere.
Let us revisit what the Student Council creates for the school and its students. I wonder how many students went to prom and savoured their last high school dance, or the time when we took the time online to shop for a new suit or dress for the upcoming semi-formal, even when we had the opportunity to wear pyjamas to school because of spirit week. Along with the stress of academics and exams, these are the meaningful memories that 40 years from now — we would be thinking about and looking back at them with nostalgia. Therefore, having the opportunity to create these memories for fellow peers and friends is a responsibility that is incredibly rewarding and meaningful to me. After the Homecoming dance was organized in October, many students came up to members of the Student Council and thanked them for bringing back the first dances at my school since before the pandemic. It is those moments of appreciation that confirm your dedication to a heavy responsibility such as Student Council because of the meaning and joy it will bring to others, for many, having a fun and lively dance one night after school relieves much of their stress from months of school.
Lastly, involvement with the Student Council is an investment in your future network. One of the major sources of concern for senior students applying for university or finding a job or internship is recommendation letters. Student Council allows you to develop connections with various teachers around the school. The closest of which would be your council supervisor(s), who is able to see your growth and skills from the beginning of your involvement to the end so that they can attest to your character. Another important source would be your principal, as planning various events and surveys would often require their approval. Therefore, through your efforts of advocacy, they are able to see your commitment to making a change to the school and could assist you during the application process. However perhaps the most important relationship one may develop is with your fellow Student Council peers. Through four years of collaboration from weekly meetings and hundreds of event planning, the struggles through those experiences allow some of the best friendships to develop. The fellow grade 9 peers at Student Council that I met during the pandemic became my friend group in grade 10, and they have stayed so for this year as well. Looking back, joining Student Council early in high school allowed me to find a safe space when entering a new environment, whether that was from fellow students, teachers, or principals.
After reading this article, future high school students can hopefully have a better understanding and direction on what extracurricular activities you would like to take part in high school. For those who are currently in high school, it is never too late to join the Student Council at your school. The skills you gain, the joy you receive, and the connections you build would not make you regret it.
Sources:
“St Margaret’s Public School.” Student Council, https://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/stmargarets/Students/Student-Council.
