By HENRY THOMAS – Guest Writer
To stand in front of 400 people is alarming, to say the least. Delivering a speech to those same people for five minutes would leave most of people in a state of panic. During the recent presidential election for my government class, 12 students including myself were in that very position. On the mock election day, we filed into the Mell Auditorium to give our speeches.
The stress of the climactic moment when we had to walk on stage was one that most of us would rather soon forget, along with most of the events that transpired afterward. Thankfully, the panic did not last long. A surge of adrenaline helped boost your confidence and lessening the nervousness that was once there. This happened once, you managed to get through your speech and realize that it was all over. We had run through the unpleasant gauntlet of politics and emerged on the other side.
After concluding this unpleasant chapter in my life, a question began to materialize, one that I found myself repeating constantly. Why would anyone want to be a politician? As my government class progresses towards the eagerly anticipated end of our presidential project, I still find it hard to truly answer that question. Holding public office is a job that is well beyond any real enjoyment. It is a job constantly dominated by pointless bickering and meaningless debates, blatant bribery and downright rudeness.
My newfound disgust of politics is entirely separate from my feelings for my teacher, Mr. Reynolds: a man to whom I am forever indebted for revealing the ugly truth hidden behind politics’ face. My respect for the real guys, like the man we voted for in 2012, has been elevated to a new level. The crowd that I delivered my speech to was tough. But, compared to congress? Nope. Not even close.
Photos by Maria Velasquez
