Elementary Student Council Application: Fill & Download for Free

The effectiveness of Student Council is ultimately proportional to how nice the faculty is willing to be. There are other factors, which I’ll get into in a minute, but this one is the most important. Student Council isn’t a right; it’s a privilege that only holds as much weight as the principal is willing to give it.So if you’re in a school without such an understanding and accommodating faculty, it’ll fail from the get-go. You might get some kind of mildly okay Student Council anyway, but it will accomplish very little and we don’t want that.After that, we need to acknowledge something: different schools will have different needs, and accordingly, student council will be focused on different things in different schools. So there is no need to stereotype or even provide a general list of what student council needs to do as part of our understanding of its purpose.Instead, what needs to happen is that Student Council, kind of like regular government, should be understood as a necessity. Whether we’re solving minor problems like the amount of school dances, or major ones like allocation of school funds, Student Council is always there as a mandatory, inalienable function of school. It exists solely to represent students and their interests, both in order to give people a chance to understand the importance of democracy while growing up, and in order to ensure that students can learn to express themselves instead of entirely relying on authority figures (parents, teachers) to do it for them in whatever limited way they do so.Students are their own authorities and they need a way to speak for themselves. Not to feel like special little snowflakes, but rather to ensure that their own interests are represented in many of the decisions that affect solely or primarily them. Much like how government is a necessary part of any free and just society, Student Council is a necessary part of any free and just school environment.Once that’s done, the next thing to address is voting.Democracy is, by design, a popular vote. There is no changing this. However, with regards to Student Council, I have found that schools tend to force literally every student to (a) listen to the ‘election speeches’ assembly of students running for certain positions in the Council, and (b) vote for a candidate for each position.This doesn’t need to be the case, especially if you want the voting process to be less of a popularity-regardless-of-merit thingamajig. You can force everyone to listen to the speeches in an assembly, as they do now, but you can make the vote optional. At the end of class after the assembly, have the teacher present the voting ballots and let people take one if they want.The people who don’t care won’t take one. You now have a smaller pool of people, comprised of people who really do care about the issues at hand, and people who care about getting their friends into the Council. There’s nothing to be done about the second group, and even if you magically whittled it down to only the first group you’d still have morons who don’t know which candidates are actually better.But it would be less of a popularity contest. When someone cares about voting, they tend to vote based on merit instead of simple frivolity. If you go out of your way to participate in democracy, you are overwhelmingly likely to take it seriously simply because you have involved yourself of your own free will, so you may as well make it worth your while.So you’d still have to deal with stupidity, but less of it.Nothing needs to be done about the candidates themselves. Anyone who actually bothers to try getting themselves elected has a vested interest in being on the Council and doing a decent job. You might be getting some people who are only campaigning because they think Student Council will look good on their applications to Ivy League colleges or some shit, but those people are perfectionists anyway, so the problem works itself out. Corruption is practically impossible, considering these are minors who are playing politics on a level where there is almost nothing to lose or gain.How should elections work? Once a year would be good; that way, people stay politically engaged on a regular basis, and therefore we encourage more meritocracy as well as a general feeling of being up-to-date on relevant issues.And like I said, assembly where election speeches are given, then optional vote. However, the assembly and vote should take place at the end of September, I think. That first month where everyone comes back is usually buzzing with excitement, and if you postpone it to any later, people will be too far into the ‘Okay, excitement over; time to be apathetic about everything and just anxious to go home’ stage for anyone to be that excited about voting. Furthermore, a month is usually enough time to start spotting obvious problems, and even a few of the subtler ones, that need to be fixed; at the same time, you can’t postpone the vote too long without cutting the amount of time ‘in office’ too short.Specific issues aren’t worth going into, since those differ on a school-to-school basis.None of this guarantees that legitimate student problems will get solved, but you will at least be setting up a fantastic framework for solving them.

Joining the Student Council club.Why?Because joining Student Council helped me cope with a lot of things. I know it is a bit vague, but I will tell you why.Long before I became the bubbly and open-minded person I have become today, I used to be shy, hella socially-awkward and well, a very quiet student.Whenever we had orals, I would quietly sit there and would not speak much in class. In fact, I was so shy that when it was my turn to present, I would not be able to stare at the entire class. Instead, I would look directly at a wall. And stay mute most of the time. Boring, right.I remembered there was a time, in elementary school, I had stage fright. I would act like a mouse and hide from the crowd. I remembered being so afraid at being in front of the stage once, that I would hide in the back corner of the school play or even Christmas concerts.I tried joining a few school plays, Christmas concerts, and even presentation for our elementary school’s open house and such to help me overcome my fear of public speaking and being in the public; however, these events did not help me overcome my fear of stage fright.The reason why these the activities I mentioned above me is that they did not help me cope with my stage fright phobia, and also, they were fricken racist at the time (in my opinion) since my elementary school was sort of biased with its students.I mean, what can you expect if your graduating class was only 30 students total, and the entire school (Pre-K—6) was less than 100.Not only that but whenever I got bullied and I report it to the administration, the big shots would not do anything about it. Instead, they brush it off, as if nothing had happened.One day, I put my 5$ bake sale money in my school bag and left it, zipped. Everyone put their school bags in the classroom and the door was locked. We all left to recess for 15 minutes. After recess, my 5$ got stolen in my bag (I know it is kind of stupid to put your money in your bag unattended) I made a complaint to the authorities and THEY DID NOTHING ABOUT MY STOLEN MONEY. They did not bother to investigate since it was not worth their time. It saddened me till this day.Compared to another student of another race got bullied, or got an item stolen or what not, they did something about it. It was unfair justice in my opinion.The administration favoured more European students in my class rather than the other students. I have always felt the outcast that I got bullied a few times, and they did not intervene for numerous stupid reasons.Now, I think about it, I think my elementary school’s mentality had changed. But it is uncertain today.After I graduated elementary school with one Visual Arts medal, compared to that one girl who was favoured by every fricken teacher and won numerous awards (She is German and beautiful compared to I, who was an ugly potato); I was hella happy that I left that isolated school. I still feel cold-hearted today since that incident happened.Anyways, after I graduated, I decided to go to a high school, far away from my elementary school, just to clear my mind up and start off a new fresh start.Entering High School was hella scary. It was a huge transition from Elementary to High School, with a bigger environment and bigger students.I was placed in a Homeroom, with this fun-loving, enthusiastic teacher named Ms. Patterson. We had many “Get-to-know-yourself” projects that I did many artworks.At the time, many teachers liked my artwork because they were cartoonish and very colourful—kinda like my personality.At one point, Ms. Patterson showed off my artwork to many teachers. I got to say, the rumours spread quickly.During Halloween, I wore a homemade recycle bag princess dress and roam around the school, wearing the dress. The dress suffocated me a bit since all my sweat was trapped in it, however, many teachers were wowed about my dress.My dress creation rumour spread everywhere that one of the Student Council students liked my dress and complimented my dress. They then told to their advisor about my dress.The advisor of the Student Council was impressed, that he handed me an application form to join in Student Council. He then told me to think about Student Council camp. Even many of my teachers persuaded me to join the Student Council.At the time when I got the application, I was enrolled in many clubs. I was part of the WHS Newspaper Club, which didn’t last long, and that club eventually died off. Then I did tryouts for Midget Girls’ Basketball team and Girl’s Badminton Team, however, both sports teams did not accept me. I then attended to Anime Club, but then I quickly got bored since I did not know a lot of Anime shows back then.I almost gave up on hope. When I got that Student Council application, I was thinking so long that I almost dodge the opportunity. I finally made a decision. I told myself,“Britney, this is your last chance at joining at a club. Do it. Give it a risk.”I had to break through my comfort zone and go for it.So I did the right thing. I filled out the application form, submit it, did an interview on ‘why I joined Student Council’ and then got another interview back, saying I got accepted.The first thing the new Student Council executive had to do was we had to attend the first full meeting, where we meet the new Student Council executives. After that, we were given an application form for Camp in late August.At first, I was a stubborn 7th grader. I threw away the Camp form, without thinking about the experience that would change my mind and my life.And at that first meeting we had, I was thinking to quit so early, without having the realization of the Student Council experience. I was stubborn, delusional and didn’t think the goods of joining Council.After a huge sacrifice of my time and a realization to give Council another chance, I decided to stay and volunteer with Student Council.I also helped out at any Student Council events. These events helped me to become less shy that I’ve become more social than ever. I even once became an MC (masters of the ceremony) at my school’s event.Ever since I joined the Student Council club in late Autumn 2013, things have slowly changed.I stayed on Student Council for about 4 years and a quarter in High School (Quebec system Y'all) and it helped me to become a better person today.I became more social than ever, and I was able to present an oral presentation without hesitation.I also was able to become more open-minded, that there were a couple of disabled students who were annoying to some people, but I learn to become friends with them since their way of interacting is different in their minds than we do.I also became more organized with my school work and life. At first, it was hard for me to balance everything but once I figured out how to schedule my time wisely, I was able to schedule my time wisely.I also liked the Student Council experience. Joining Council had made me become a better person.So, do I regret my decision of joining the Student Council? Nope. I liked the sacrifice I made.Not only I liked the experience, but it had helped me to pushed out of my comfort zone.If it wasn’t for my stubbornness, I would never join Council.Except joining Council was a scary change.Yes, I know change can be scary. However, sometimes change is good or for the better.If I knew back then, that Council would change my life—I would have stayed instead of having second thoughts about leaving Council.Some of my friends that joined with me at the beginning of the Council journey, left early. Later on, of the year, I made new friends and they joined the Council experience with me. Till this day, those that joined the Council experience, later on, became best friends and good friends with me.So, if ever you’re in that position of being hesitant or unsure of joining a new club, trying out a new class, trying new foods, trying out for a sport team, getting along with your new step-parents, or even shyly asking someone out as your significant other/Promposal/date/Fiancé, etc.—I personally would say go for it!Sometimes going out of your comfort zone can be good or bad.If it goes bad, at least you had accomplished something you would never do.Sacrifice, risking your life, change, protecting others, going beyond your comfort zone…can be good.Now, don’t just sit there and keep reading; instead, make a sacrifice or a change in your life or in others. Because sometimes change can be good.Don’t be hesitant and then later regret your decisions.You can do it.Cheers,—Britney Vu, Was once an awkward, shy and bubbly High Schooler.(I’m no great storyteller.)

TL;DR: Plan early, be self-aware and prepare to work hard. Building a good application profile is a long-term effort (but it’s also fun and shouldn’t be taken as ‘work’) :)I was very fortunate that my family is knowledgable about the US application systems, since both my older siblings had enrolled to US colleges earlier*. From eavesdropping conversations when they applied to schools, I knew decently well early on (from around 6th grade) about what US schools look for, what requirements I would have to fulfill, and what I could do to prepare.Some of the understanding that might not be obvious:It’s hard for admission officers to calibrate your school grades, if you come from Indonesia’s national school system which uses an unknown scoring system (to them). This makes your grade less trustworthy than grades of high schoolers in the US. Ideally, find something else to help them calibrate you, such as:Internationally-recognized tests, like AP testInternational / national competitions, like the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)US college looks at applicants holistically and there is rarely a ‘magic bullet’ that absolves your lack of other things. They don’t just want to have smart robots in their school, but people who are well-balanced, interesting, and have passion.You can’t take standardized tests on a whim. The schedule is pretty restrictive.Your English education level is likely super shallow compared to other students internationally. No matter how good your English scores are at school, you will need a lot of work on your essays just to be decent.There is a lot of luck involved with college admissions. The fact that you can compare your stats to an MIT admit (e.g. you have a gold medal in an international olympiad) doesn’t mean that applying only to MIT and Harvard is safe.How this early understanding became useful:Less emphasis on schoolwork and more freedom to explore non-schoolwork things.My parents and I have never cared about school grades - I was always a decent student, near the top but not at the top of the class. We value things outside of schoolwork as highly, like running the student council, playing in the badminton club, spending tons of my free time exploring programming (even back in elementary school), social volunteering, or even joining a Beatles fan club (through which I talked on radio stations or wrote on magazines at some point).These sound pretty normal for a high school student in the US, but the mindset of a typical high school student / parent in a national high school in Indonesia is very different… Most friends and parents I know are super focused on school or test grades, that they lose track of everything else.Early and stress-free research on things that I need to do or areas that I’m lacking.Early planning on standardized test schedule.By planning my calendar well, I could take most of the standardized tests twice without feeling rushed or stressed out.I also hustled to register myself to take AP tests without taking AP classes, which is pretty tricky and non-obvious to do for international students (who don’t study in international schools).I think the first point is super important, regardless of whether you (or your kids) are interested to apply to US colleges or not, for the kid to have some balance and breadth. The explorations I did, which were allowed by the pressure-free attitude towards schoolwork, basically led to the cornerstones of my application profile. By the time I was filling out my college application, I was silver medalist of International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), second-ranked high school female in the world that year. But I also had been a student council president, captain of a sports team, and had quirky stories to tell about my hobbies and interests. I could not make that up if I just started my applications six months before it’s due :)In terms of the actual application itself, things I did that might be different from others in the 1 year leading up to the application deadline:Essays:I started drafting my essays more than 4 months before it’s due.I drafted 6 - 7 people to proofread my essays; they came from different backgrounds: alumni of top schools, English teachers (to proofread the English parts), technical mentors (to proofread some of my more technical essays), alumni from the school that I was applying to.Made multiple drafts around different themes and circulated those for feedback, then iterated a lot on one or two of them.School selection:My initial list of schools was a bit long, but I strategized on which schools to apply to and when. I applied to different schools using early application, rolling admissions, and priority application. This reduced the # of applications to actually fill up, and allow me to stagger the work. Because of this, I consider my college applications very stress-free.Tests: like mentioned above, I took TOEFL and SAT 1 twice, and scored 5s on 4 AP tests without enrolling in the class.*I’m aware that many good decisions that I’ve made in life (including decisions surrounding college applications) came from having good sources of information, and not necessarily because I was smarter or better than others who did not make good decisions. Because of that, I strongly believe that making information in people’s head available to more people will be super impactful to the society, since it will allow people to make better decisions for themselves. This belief leads me to working at Quora, co-starting Indonesia Mengglobal, and contributing to Indo2SV.