Student Representative Council

Assalamualaikum and welcome!

I really hope you don't leave me since I haven't wrote for so long. Today I have a topic about...

Student Representative Council President

Basically, about SRC. We just had an SRC president election today, but we don't know who won yet. So in this post, I'd like to write what I know and my opinions about the position.

First and foremost, there are seven different candidates. Each have different personalities and character traits, and they each have different views and opinions about being an SRC president. Each of them had given a speech on stage in front of the whole secondary students and teachers.

All my life, I've never understood what the Student Representative Council do. I thought it must have no difference with prefects. But of course, I was wrong. The SRCs do more than that. A friend told me that the SRCs have to manage the school, events, food, equipment, trips, facilities, discipline and behaviors of students. What I understand is that the Student Representative Council are leaders, who tells us what we should do in order to succeed in every aspect, such as education, cleanliness, sports, health, manners and responsibility.

An SRC president should be a responsible leader who knows their own destiny and what their community wants to achieve together. The president should guide the community with great leadership, understanding, patience and responsibility towards achieving the end. Being a president isn't just about bossing people around, forcing them to produce better ideas while you slump yourself on the table and sleep. It's about integrity, innovation, care and altruism for the students and teachers, providing anything for the sake of making learning comfortable and creating a better environment and condition to learn.

There was a Q&A for the president candidates yesterday and there was a time when it's open for any audience's question. Then this one guy stood up and, holding the microphone, asked with a playful puzzled look, "So who really wants to be the president here?" That made the audience go "oooohh.." loudly and everyone turned their attentions to the candidates. None of them raise up their hands, not even the one we thought most likely will. There are three reasons for this that I can come up with so far:

1. They really don't want to

2. They want to, but they were afraid if they can't do it and break their promises to the school

3. They really want to, but they don't want to show it in case people say they're show-offs who think they're the only one worthy of being the president

OR (hopefully not this)

4. They really want to so that they get the title, but don't want to show it so that the audience thinks they're being humble

The most likely reasons from the list above would be the second and the third, and their problem is self-confidence. Self-confidence is an important trait in a president, as well as honesty. Look at the first one. Sometimes, people  just don't want to be a leader or to carry a big responsibility like that, but people choose them because they're actually capable of doing that. If they're not capable of doing that, why were they voted? Or maybe they just want someone else to get the chance and let them do it instead. Or maybe it's just because they want to sit in the corners and read, not doing anything else and not wanting to get popular. It doesn't matter, but if you think you have the potential (be honest here) or the true characteristics of a leader, then the burden may be light and you can carry it if you work together. Think positive! Say you do want to. Remember, you were voted candidate for a reason.

The second one, like I said, tells that the person has self-confidence problems. They want to be the president, but they 're afraid that when they are the president, spoken promises they mentioned in their speech to the school will break. They thought at the last minute, what if I can't do it? They thought the responsibility being in that position might be too much for them, so they didn't raise up their hands. You need to develop self-confidence and honesty to become a great leader. No matter how heavy the burden of responsibility is, the other SRC members will help. If you work together, you can produce an even better idea than if you work alone. If you think you can't keep the promise you want to make, then don't make it. If you already made it, then keep it and do your best to do so. That is how a community develop trust.

The third one also tells the candidate lacks self-confidence. The difference between this one and the second one above is that this one focuses more on our relationship with people. They're thinking of what others might think if they raise up their hands. You should develop self-confidence in yourself and do not think what others will think. Think what you think. The ones that think you are showing off do not understand you. My cousin's motto had always been 'Be yourself". Stop thinking about what others say about you. What do you say about you? Don't worry. If you think you're worthy to become a president, then raise up you hand high into the sky without hesitation. If people think you're bragging, ignore. They won't understand your uniqueness anyways.

The fourth one, which I hope no one uses, is called fake. Yep. Fake. Why? It's obvious, they only want the title. Well, who doesn't right? There was once an SRC candidate election in my class. The rules are that the candidate  should have studied in Sri Ayesha for a complete year or more. Then there was this new boy who whined, "But I want to be an SRC!" I don't know why he said that or why he thinks he's a great leader at that time, but sometimes people say this just to get the title. Imagine, everyone respects you, you can punish anyone, boss people around and whatnot (not that I encourage you, so don't do that. And they only not admit it so that people think they're humle and more people want to vote for them. That's just not right. You must know how to handle school issues, manage events and organizing special trips, not waste time looking at your name tag!

Be a good leader, a good caliph. Not just an SRC president can be a caliph, but every one of us are. Guide everyone towards achieving the end, In Shaa Allah. Assalamualaikum!