As you may or may not know the Student Representative holds a non-voting seat on the D202 School Board which meets every month. During the September board meeting our principal, Dr. Campbell, gave an analogy in one of his presentations that stuck with me and I’d like to share it with you. He presented the concept of windows versus mirrors, the idea that often times we search extensively outside of ourselves for the sources of our problems, when in fact one quick look in a mirror will reveal the source: you. I understand that it can be kind of unhelpful to realize that a lot of the problems you’re facing are solely on you, but if the source of your problems lie within you, the solutions are in there as well. Food for thought.

While the school board meetings are important, they aren’t the only thing I have been working on, and as the beginning of the year work has begun there is still one major missing piece: you. I can’t represent you if I can’t hear you. While I would love to sit down and have an in depth conversation about the issues you’d like to work on, I know that that isn’t always realistic. Lucky for us, there are many different ways that I can hear you, and that everyone else can hear you too.

The single most important way to ensure that you are heard is by voting. Sure, it’s your civic duty to vote… whatever, more than that you should want to vote, because for many people being able to remove themselves from voting is a privilege that they do not have, and for others being able to vote is a right that they are fighting to hold on to. That being said, not everyone can vote, in fact I can’t vote, but that doesn’t mean that I’m silent. There is always something you can do or say no matter how old you are. Call me an opportunist, but one effective and simple way to speak out is to come to Student Union meetings; this club was created for the sole purpose of hearing students and working with you to change policies and attitudes, and to allow people to see the world in a different, and better way.

Nobody is perfect, you are not perfect, and (spoiler) I am not perfect. When you speak out for what you believe people will speak back and it will not always be what you want to hear, nor will it always be very nice. But when that happens just remember that windows versus mirrors applies to everyone. You can’t be afraid to speak out because of the criticism you may get, the truth is that criticism is never a response to what you’re actually saying, but rather misplaced emotions from a person who is looking out a window instead of looking in a mirror.

Yours,
Phoebe Liccardo
[email protected]