During a morning assembly on Aug. 26, five freshmen stood in the middle of Benjamin Hall to deliver speeches appealing to their classmates for their votes.

The five candidates for freshman class representative were Caroline Connor, Paige Hauisen,  Daschle Searcy, Angela Sun, and Dylan Walsh. 

Even though all five are Benjamin veterans and well known among their peers, the experience was still challenging.

“Even though I’m used to it, it was kind of nerve racking when I got up to speak. But then I felt really confident because I had a lot of people come up to me afterwards and say they liked my speech,” said Searcy.

The candidates were instructed to write two minute speeches composed of a few paragraphs. Their individual voices reverberated through reflections about long-term family ties to the Benjamin community, past student council accomplishment, and visions of heightened school spirit.

As online campaigning wasn’t allowed, these speeches served as the primary means of introducing themselves as viable candidates. Even after hearing from their potential leaders,  it was hard for students to choose their representative.

“It’s difficult to vote because of personal connections, but for me I base it on the speeches and there was definitely one or two that stood out more,” said freshman voter Indira Bandekar; “it’s not easy, but I think in the end I made a good choice.”

As Bandekar said, it wasn’t easy for students to pick between their friends. Ultimately, students had to go with their hearts and choose the candidate they knew would do the right thing as a representative for the whole freshman class. 

As part of a democracy, freshman students have many hopes for how their student council representative will embody their class.

“They should be supportive during school and understanding of what the entire class wants. I feel like availability is super important when you’re representative,” freshman Emma Woody expressed.

Another freshman, Johnny Ferguson, said: “I’d like it if they could get us more free time and snacks at the concession stand.”

Votes, collected via Google Form, were cast over the week. On Friday, the results were announced: all five freshman candidates would be joining the student council.

The five representatives’ new responsibilities include but are not limited to representing their classmates. With the larger student council team, they’ll also collaborate with upperclassmen to organize events and further improve the school.

“Student council members exemplify the very best through their behavior, attendance, uniforms. Beyond that, all our reps work a day in the concession stand, helping sell food to the students, as well as helping prepare for Homecoming and Chillin’ and Grillin’,” added Mr. Zachary Rubiano, the Student Council Advisor. 

Student Council President, senior Liam Duffy, is enthusiastic about having the new freshman representatives on board.

“They all definitely have personality, which is very nice to see, and  I can also tell they’re very responsible and aren’t scared to confront people. I’m excited to see what they can do,” said Duffy.