Dirks v. Harris

In the late spring of my junior year of high school, when the seniors were on their way out and my class was on its way up, four of my classmates and I got called to the main office. Megan Dirks, Aaron Banks, Nathan Harris, Beau Waddell, and I met up in the hallway after an overhead announcement had asked that we convene in the principal's office immediately. Megan and I, always nervous that, somehow, miraculously, we had missed some footnote in the student handbook and had unintentionally broken a rule, looked around and asked if anyone knew what was going on. Aaron, Nathan, and Beau rolled their eyes. The four of them were on student council, and I was going to be the following year... so it probably just had something to do with that. Duh.

When we arrived, we were informed by jolly Mr. Michalsky, that the senior class had decided that we were each "worthy" of running for student council president the next year. I was completely, totally, amazingly honored, and I had the blush to proove it. I spent most of my high school years wondering what people thought of me, hoping to become friends with everyone and be liked by everyone. But I didn't ever think that people (besides my parents) considered me leadership worthy.

Aaron, Beau, and I decided we weren't interested in the high stakes drama of putting ourselves out there in the already tempest-like atmosphere of high school popularity wars. Politics, whether I liked them or not, was not what I was interested in. Megan and Nathan, the two in our class who were almost always chosen as our beautiful, glamorous spokespeople, went head to head for the first time. Who would reign victorious? The campaign took on a fever pitch almost immediately, causing long-term relationships to divide over who to vote for (i.e. Emmalee v. Ryan, Aaron v. Kim). The nomination process, the posters, the advertisement, the anger over negative ads, and the final speeches and votes were like nothing I'd seen in the previous years making the same decision. Both were capable for the job, both wanted it, both would do well. Who would win?

After about a month of campaigning, the votes were tallied, and we were all called to the auditorium for Awards Day. The seniors were lauded and Jayne Appley stole the show by taking away the most scholarships as she made preparations to attend Coe College the next year. The rest of us clapped, but we were all waiting for one thing: the seniors to be excused, and the rest of us to be given the final verdict. Who would it be? Mrs. Johnson, our counselor and the advisor for the student council, made her way to the front. She smiled, her cheeks balooning with a secret about to be revealed.

"This has been a very interesting campaign, I think we can all agree. And the two nominees have been working especially hard this year to win your support. Would Nathan and Megan please come up to the front?" Tall, tan, handsome Nathan and petite, perfect, beautiful Megan made their way awkwardly to the front. Their relationship, although never extremely close, had been strained by the constant debating done over the last month. While both was eager to be named as the winner, they were both equally eager to put an end to the madness. They stood on either side of Mrs. Johnson and waited. She continued, "The votes have been tallied - and retallied for accuracy. We have the results, and you may find them interesting. The margin between the two was minor. So minor, in fact, that there was no way to know if we were for sure accurate on the winner. Therefore, we have decided that BOTH Megan and Nathan will serve as co-presidents in the following school year!"

We all stood up and cheered, so excited, so happy! BOTH?! They were an amazing team, after all. And both had outstanding ideas and leadership capabilities. Why should it have to be just one? Why couldn't there be two working together to get more done?

And that is EXACTLY what they did. Together, Harris/Dirks worked to create one of the best school years many of us remembered. From the amazing homecoming ideas, the Student Council Winter Week games, the absence of worrying about Lip Synching. It was good. Probably the best.

And it makes me think of Obama and Clinton. The delegates are so close - SO CLOSE! And if one wins, half of the Democrats will be disappointed. I know it's unprecedented. I know that both are so strong, neither would want to concede to the other. But think about it... think about TWO for the price of ONE... this nation is on its way out of its archaic two-party system. Independents are almost as wide spread as Democrats or Republicans. People ARE ready for change... it just makes me dream big for something different. For big change.