Brittany McGee

“¡Corazón! ¡Corazón! ¡Corazón!” the crowd chanted. A few girls let out some high pitched “Wooooos” as well.

It was the day of campaign speeches. All three groups of student council hopefuls were on stage, waiting for their turn to wow the crowd with promises of what each would achieve in the next school year.

Similar to political elections in Peru, a council runs together—the president, vice president, and people in charge of various areas such as sports, culture, and general student welfare. Elections at the high school I work at are typically held at the end of the school year so that the council can get straight to work for the next year. The “lists” as they’re often referred to, were able to start campaigning in the middle of November- giving them about two weeks before elections.

The group “Julio Poncinos Unidos en un Solo Corazón” had clearly done their share of campaigning as clusters of students in the crowd held posters with their symbol and chanted.

The lists gave two rounds of speeches – one to the girls who study in the morning, and one to the boys who study in the afternoon. Time after time each group made similar promises; to better the school, to plant more green areas, to hold an end of the year party for everyone. The crowds rallied with excitement when they heard things they liked.

Mocking politics, one professor quietly whispered, “When did they all learn to lie?”

The day following the political rallies, students flooded the classrooms to vote. Each student had to present a valid form of identification and then marked with an “X” on a slip of paper to indicate his or her preference. The votes were then counted, and recounted by a committee of the graduating class.

By that afternoon, the winner was obvious, with more than 60% of the votes. “Julio Poncinos Unidos en un Solo Corazón” had won.

On Monday, just a few days later, the school held a ceremony for the new student council. The Mayor of Olmos made a special appearance at the high school just to swear-in the new president. Before doing the honors, he talked about the importance of student council and how serving as student council president while he was in high school helped shaped him into the leader he is today.

While I sat in my neon green plastic chair, listening to him, I reflected on how important to young and impressionable minds these extra-curricular and leadership opportunities are, as I often find myself doing. These students are intelligent, ambitious, and charismatic; they are the future of the community of Olmos, of Peru, of the world.