What is it like to be your vice president? To me, that is the same as asking what it is like to walk. It is something I learned that is now second nature. At first glance that may seem cocky, and it is. But I earned that.
Leadership for me did not start at SPU. It started in fifth grade when I realized that if I worked hard enough, circumstances would change. That if I am bold enough, hearts might change too. With all frankness, I have a few things I want you to take away from this article. One is that you become bold enough to try something new, even if you might fail. Two, you walk away appreciating your life a little more. And three, you vote for me, Esther Smith, for Associated Students of Seattle Pacific president.
Today, I only have space for one story. Back in fifth grade my teacher, Mr. Gresser, taught the class a vocab word. Mr. Gresser was one of those teachers you just don’t forget. I remember bugging him during his lunch hour, listening to the duck song because his three-year-old daughter liked it and teaching the class PEMDAS. He was equal parts stern, helpful and encouraging. Mr. G was determined to get every student in that class to college, to a successful life. He did not succeed with all of us. Some are dead, some in jail, some living the same day over and over, smoking their life away…But some did make it. It is because he persevered that I made it.
I grew up in the Renton/Seattle area. Some of you may know it as the Soufend. It was not the safest growing up, gang violence and poverty infested my neighborhood. But Mr.G was a G. He could handle a “problem child” or a “teacher’s pet” with the same amount of attention and care he would have with his own family. He taught me many lessons but none as important as this one word — perseverance. This is an attribute I need you to know I possess.
One day he sat the whole class down and asked something along the lines of “Can someone force you to do anything?” and we wondered with him. Some bantered with him. Some weren’t paying attention. And myself — I was considering what he meant. A hard “Yes” was the answer for most of the students. And when he said “I don’t think anyone can force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” there was some disagreement. We gave examples of our parents or siblings telling us to do stuff, and how they forced us to clean or pass them the remote.
He went on and said, “You always have a choice.” He seemed to be having fun boggling the minds of 10-year-olds. He continued “Even if you don’t like the outcome of your choice or if it feels like there wasn’t a better one, it is still your choice to make.” We all thought he was crazy, but he went on, “Today is going to be a hard class, but remember, it is a choice to give up and a choice to persevere.” I did not know at the time that this was the lesson I had been waiting for.
I couldn’t read until the third grade. I always — and I mean always — wiggled my way out of learning because it was difficult for me to read without the words moving. I do not have dyslexia, though I applaud those who manage that. It turned out I just needed glasses, but my family did not know that until sixth grade.
So I was stuck – trapped, not knowing why it took me so long to read. Why did the other kids finish their books so fast and didn’t mix up their E’s and A’s? My response to this challenge was lying and hiding. Every reading log had fudged numbers and every book report only was reflective of the random page I turned to. I figured if I couldn’t do it with ease, I wouldn’t do it at all. If I wasn’t the best or perfect I simply wouldn’t try. It worked in third grade, fourth grade and even fifth grade. But then something new happened.
One day Mr. G started an audiobook series. We listened to “The Hobbit,” and for the first time ever, I loved reading. I just had to read. I had to figure it out. I really wanted to figure it out and get the words to stop blurring when I looked for too long. I wanted to see what I saw when I listened to “The Hobbit.” Then one day, in my little fifth-grade brain, it all came together. Perseverance. If I wanted to see the world that was alive in my thoughts when I listened to “The Hobbit,” I needed to try.
Later on, Mr. G talked about college. He expressed that this is where people go to basically start their careers – start their lives, really. He said that anyone can go to college. He said someone else could pay for it too. I was young, but I was old enough to know I couldn’t afford college. For some, college is the norm. For me, college is a dream. It is a product of fifth grade me’s perseverance. And sixth, seventh, eighth, and on and on…
I have been through many hardships to get here, many hard conversations and long nights. The Bible says in Romans 5:3-4: “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame.”
Why am I telling you this? Because right now it is 12:59 a.m. and I am in the ASSP office planning how to best serve you all. Maybe that makes me crazy but I believe that hope, and perseverance more so, will not put me to shame.
The perseverance I learned as a child is what I have brought to the office every day and I’m crazy enough to do it again. That same determined fifth grader in me wants the hard work that comes with leading SPU.
If you want to give her that chance, voting opens at 9 a.m. on Feb. 14th and can be found at spu.campuslabs/engage.com. Please, do not hear this and forget the message. Hear this and change– become inspired! Decide to persevere with me as your elected student body president. Thank you.