By: Gabrielle Murphy, Manship College of Mass Communication, Creative Director
If you had asked me freshman, sophomore or junior year, I would have told you I was running for Student Body President one day—probably against George Bevan. If you had asked me freshman, sophomore or junior year, I would have told you that Helen Frink and I were friends. But if you were close enough to me, you knew that I secretly couldn’t stand her; not for any reason other than the fact that she was my competition in almost every way (and I’m stupidly competitive. It’s fine).
A friend once told me that college is where we become who we’re going to be for the rest of our lives. A terrifying thought to swallow, but at some point in college we learn that we can’t be the best at everything. That was a hard lesson for me to learn. Sophomore year, I failed at almost everything I tried for the first time in my entire life. It took a larger toll on me than probably anything else in my adolescence, but it also taught me that at some point we have to decide what is important to us—what we want to keep devoting ourselves to. As someone with exorbitant amounts of passion for everything around me, even I wore myself out by the end of sophomore year giving that passion constantly. So when I finally chose my path in Dance Marathon instead of Student Government, Helen approached me to support her in the race for Student Body President.
I believe the exact words were, “I know what I want, but I don’t know how to do the things and you get me.” I asked her why she wanted to run and what she wanted to run on, and she told me she wanted to be different. To which, I laughed because anyone who has ever run for any office wants to be “different.” But again, she looked at me and said, “No. I’m going to be different.” And I believed her.
According to some people, I’m the most terrifying person under 5’2. I have no idea where they get that from (just kidding, I’m a little bit scary. It’s fine) but I am not easily impressed. It takes a lot to earn my respect. It takes a lot for someone to prove themselves to me or to make me believe in them as much as I believe in Helen & Wesley.
I’m a part of Make It Matter because Helen & Wesley have done so many things that needed to be done to Student Government elections. I’m a part of Make It Matter because they are both stubborn and passionate and creative and happy and capable. I’m a part of Make It Matter because these two candidates believe wholeheartedly in leaders like me (…they let me have ridiculous PR ideas in the middle of the night then run with them). I’m a part of Make It Matter because, frankly, Helen & Wesley aren’t full of it. They care about every student reaching his or her fullest potential. They don’t back down from what they believe in. They don’t bow to the pressures of winning an election rather than doing what is best for the positions they want. They don’t ostracize a candidate or a supporter or a student because of where they’re from, what they look like, or what parts of campus they’re involved in. They get it. And if they don’t get you, they want to.
I think “real” is the truest word I could use to do describe these two friends of mine. And I hold real above anything else.
If you had asked me freshman, sophomore or junior year, I would have told you I was running for Student Body President one day—probably against George Bevan. If you had asked me freshman, sophomore or junior year, I would have told you that Helen Frink and I were friends. But if you were close enough to me, you knew that I secretly couldn’t stand her; not for any reason other than the fact that she was my competition in almost every way (and I’m stupidly competitive. It’s fine).
A friend once told me that college is where we become who we’re going to be for the rest of our lives. A terrifying thought to swallow, but at some point in college we learn that we can’t be the best at everything. That was a hard lesson for me to learn. Sophomore year, I failed at almost everything I tried for the first time in my entire life. It took a larger toll on me than probably anything else in my adolescence, but it also taught me that at some point we have to decide what is important to us—what we want to keep devoting ourselves to. As someone with exorbitant amounts of passion for everything around me, even I wore myself out by the end of sophomore year giving that passion constantly. So when I finally chose my path in Dance Marathon instead of Student Government, Helen approached me to support her in the race for Student Body President.
I believe the exact words were, “I know what I want, but I don’t know how to do the things and you get me.” I asked her why she wanted to run and what she wanted to run on, and she told me she wanted to be different. To which, I laughed because anyone who has ever run for any office wants to be “different.” But again, she looked at me and said, “No. I’m going to be different.” And I believed her.
According to some people, I’m the most terrifying person under 5’2. I have no idea where they get that from (just kidding, I’m a little bit scary. It’s fine) but I am not easily impressed. It takes a lot to earn my respect. It takes a lot for someone to prove themselves to me or to make me believe in them as much as I believe in Helen & Wesley.
I’m a part of Make It Matter because Helen & Wesley have done so many things that needed to be done to Student Government elections. I’m a part of Make It Matter because they are both stubborn and passionate and creative and happy and capable. I’m a part of Make It Matter because these two candidates believe wholeheartedly in leaders like me (…they let me have ridiculous PR ideas in the middle of the night then run with them). I’m a part of Make It Matter because, frankly, Helen & Wesley aren’t full of it. They care about every student reaching his or her fullest potential. They don’t back down from what they believe in. They don’t bow to the pressures of winning an election rather than doing what is best for the positions they want. They don’t ostracize a candidate or a supporter or a student because of where they’re from, what they look like, or what parts of campus they’re involved in. They get it. And if they don’t get you, they want to.
I think “real” is the truest word I could use to do describe these two friends of mine. And I hold real above anything else.