As your student body president I promise to bring better school lunch, end all homework and make the school day shorter.

Perhaps this trope of a student body president trying to accomplish something everyone knows they have no control over, combined with a cliche popularity-ridden election process, has led us all to believe that a president has no power, ever.

I’ll concede that there is a lot a Student Council officer can’t achieve, but even if a candidate presents genuine and achievable goals, we assume they cannot be accomplished. We assume StuCo and its elections are a waste of time and have no effect on us. We assume any and all StuCo representatives and officers just want a title to place on a resume. We assume anything said during a flashy 30-second speech meant to catch our attention is going to make no difference in the long run because StuCo doesn’t matter anyway.

It is here that we sell not only StuCo members short, but also our entire school.

It can be easy to become trapped in a mindset that our school and its parts are dismal and beyond repair. Comparatively, though, it’s less common. Some people within our school don’t see any flaws, and thus see no need for change. But our school isn’t perfect, so thankfully, there are students and teachers willing to try to improve Manhattan High School.

Despite a need for change, it is still all too common that an idea isn’t seriously considered because it hasn’t been done before or will disturb the status quo. But isn’t that the point?

For every goal, no matter how far-fetched, there is at least one piece, or core idea, that can be achieved. Sometimes those ideas will fail, but we won’t know if we never try.

I didn’t run for student body president to put it on a resume. I ran because I see ways that the school can, and needs, to be improved. I know that I can help facilitate those changes. I can’t do it by myself, or even with the help of the council as a whole. Some of my ideas may be crazy, and some of you may be reluctant to try them out because they seem to be a hassle. Nevertheless, I hope that you will bear with me and help along the way because I can’t do it without you.

Now I won’t bring you all a better school lunch, but I’ll present a plan to make our cafeteria more eco-friendly. I also won’t end all homework, but I can point you to tutors and other programs our school offers if you need help tackling the mountain of it that’s been building all day. Finally, I won’t make the school day shorter, but I will always be willing to lend an ear or a shoulder to cry on if it’s only fourth hour and it’s already been a long day.

I will do anything and everything I can to make your experience at Manhattan High School better because you elected me to be your Student Body President next year, so it’s kind of my job.