When I was in sixth grade, I decided to run for student council. Having grown up in the district, I felt I knew what was best for the school and my classmates. After campaigning for weeks and giving my speech, I sat anxiously in my seat for the rest of the day, waiting for the secretary’s voice over the loudspeaker to announce who had won the election. Unfortunately for me, my name wasn’t one of the ones announced. I went home that day feeling defeated and like my voice didn’t matter. After many other experiences since that fateful day, however, I now know that my voice, and every other student’s voice, does matter.

Whether you are in elementary school, high school or anywhere in between, it’s imperative that you know your voice matters. I know from experience that at times it feels like no matter how hard you try, nobody is listening to what you have to say. It can feel like everyone is against you and your opinions aren’t valid. However, this is not the case. No matter what others may say or do, your opinion matters. It has taken me quite a while to believe that this is true, but now I know that being assertive and stating what’s important to you is extremely necessary. 

One of the reasons I believe student voices are important is because of a personal experience I had recently. I have felt strongly about the neglected state of our high school girls locker room for quite some time, and I finally decided I needed to do something about it. I attended the August school board meeting and voiced my concerns about the locker room during the open comments portion of the meeting. Anybody is allowed to speak during this time, so it was the perfect opportunity to express my thoughts. Although the board wasn’t able to give me feedback immediately after my comments, after the meeting I got many compliments from board members and even the superintendent on my courage to stand up for what I felt was right. 

In addition to attending school board meetings, students can also bring up concerns to the administration. This is something that I have also used my voice to do. Before bringing up the girls locker room to the school board, I first brought the topic to the superintendent, Mr. Pfeil. We had a short discussion, and I was taken aback by his openness to making a change. By using my voice as a student, I was able to bring awareness to problems that directly affect the student body, and therefore, push the talk of change to the people who can get it started. 

Using your voice as a student doesn’t have to mean speaking to administration or the school board, however. It can also be something smaller, such as talking to coaches, teachers or even other students. For instance, some of my teammates from a former team were saying some nasty things about one of my close friends. Hearing people I thought I could trust say things like that about someone I cared about was like a shot to the heart, but I didn’t stay quiet and instead confronted them. Through the power of my voice, I was able to get them to leave my friend alone. 

At the end of the day, I believe that it’s imperative that we as a student body voice our opinions. It’s students like us that are the future for not only our country, but the world as a whole. If we hope to ever improve how things are, whether it be in school or in our future endeavors, we need to find the strength and courage in all of our hearts to stand up for what is right. So if you ever are feeling like your voice isn’t strong enough to make a difference, don’t worry. It doesn’t matter if you won your sixth grade student council election or not. Everyone, including you, deserves to have their voice heard.