Being a candidate

Recently, I decided to run for At-Large Representative position in UPUA (Student government). Since our student government has relatively less impact on school than that of other schools, it is natural that not many students pay their attention to the election. So the whole election process might seem very quite and peaceful, but it's a tough time for me being a candidate. This election comes to me more important than the U.S. presidential election does.

Being a candidate, I need people's vote. Many people's vote. If I want to get those votes, then I need to reach out to people and get their votes. Then, I need a great persuasion skill in order to be successful in this process.

Think of Mitt Romney shaking people's hands and making smile. That would be a part of persuasion even though he doesn't say anything about his policy in front of the people. I would love to shake Barack Obama's hand because he is the president and famous! His situated ethos appeals to me strongly as well as his occupation appeals to people's logos. He is the president of the United States of America. However, those shaking hand strategy becomes effective only when a famous person uses it. I'm not as famous as even a random local businessmen, so why would somebody love to shake my hand for what reason? Morever, it would have been better if I was reaching out to the people that I don't know, but living in State College, you see the same faces almost everyday. Acting like Mitt Romney wouldn't be a good idea.

Then, I sense that I am reaching out to the people whom I know to ask for their support in the election. It seems easiler than reashing out to the random people, but it is more difficult than we think. I'm a freshmen and I am trying to make many good friends on campus. However, if I ask their support in my election, some of them would like to support me without any judgement, but others might think that I tried to be friend with them to get votes in the election. You will never know what do they think. Even some of my friend told me about it in a joking way but it hurt me in some way.

Now, there are only two weeks left until the election, and I am trying to reach out as mush as I can. However, I realized I lack a decent persuading skill that encouraged me to think more about who I am and what to improve in my life. I'm not sure how the end would be like but I am enjoying my election process so far. I will learn a lot after all regardless of the result.