A saga to remember: class co-presidency and elections!

So it's weird writing this, retrospectively - it's currently March 24th, this all finished this March 14th, the final day of this (chapter of) this adventure. It seems like years ago now, even though at the time it seemed like forever ...! I hope you enjoy this journey, which has really changed my life, and what business school is about for me ...

Tuesday February 28th - an email after dinner ...

"ANNOUNCING THE WINTER GSB SA SENATE AND COMMITTEE ELECTIONS…INCLUDING THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FOR THE CLASS OF 2007!!"

This was not completely unexpected, but it still came as a shock. Should I run? I was already elected as one of the Senators, and felt I could make a big difference ...

... ironically, post-Seattle, this was one of the things which I had talked about with my mentor, Bruce. What was I supposed to get out of my time here? I knew at a high level - to learn stuff, get a chance to get some cool jobs over summer and straight after, meet friends, grow personally, and try new things. But what would suit that the best?

Tuesday March 7th.

After much prayer and "consulting", I decide to run with my friend Robyn, another Senator! We take ages putting together a 3 page position statement (it was supposed to be 1-2 pages, but conciseness is a development need of mine - it even included a weird consulting-esque powerpoint slide. Oh dear) Here's the first bit ...

At this stage, I was feeling pretty good, relaxed about it all. "What does it matter?" I would think to myself. If we win, great, if we don't, no problem - I'll do something else with my time!

We were soon to find out that only one other team would be running ... you do the math! =)

Thursday 9th. The night before the presidential debate.

One of the traditions the GSB (Grad School of Business) has is that the presidential teams give a speech to the year about what they want to do with the position, then there are open questiosn from the floor which everyone has 2 minutes to answer - then e-voting begins, with the polls open for 72 hours.

We thought we knew what we were going to say pretty well. But then, nervousness began to set in. What if we get a question we have no idea how to answer? We begin to ask our friends to think of every conceivable question people may ask (Eg What are the 3 best things about the school? What do you think about Harvard's Grade Non Disclosure policy? etc!) and realise that we can't answer everything. We practice answers which don't sound too good and then freak out. Argh!

Friday 10th. Post-presidential-debate. And wait ...

The debate goes fine (I was at my witty best! I think), but soon I realise how daunted I feel. My confidence ("I have a 50% chance ... at least!") and nonchalence ("It doesn't really matter either way, right!") has given way to worry, concern. How should I act arond my classmates? Should I go up and ask them to vote for me? Should I be extra-nice? Should I go out and party to show that I'm cool? Wait - those guys didn't come up and talk to me. Maybe they feel nervous about not voting for me. Oh no!

Wow, how worried I was about it. I really just wanted to curl up into a ball during this 72 hour voting period.

Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th. Homework, study, and more waiting ...

Trying to do homework (of which I had a lot - as I was deferring it so I could spend time working on my statement/debate/"campaign") was agony. My mate Trent wrote to me as I mulled over this with him over email ...

Uncertainty sucks. Especially for people like us. we just think too much! ... The truth is, its' ok to be nervous. I'm sure Eric and Elaine [the other team] are just as nervous/worried about the election.

I'm sure you'll ride a roller coaster of emotion over the next 48 hours. keep me posted. I have no doubt that all this anxiety is for a reason.

... Roller coaster of emotion was an understatement! It was so hard not to read far too much into every little thing - to wonder if we should have campaigned more, emailed stacks of people to vote for us, been more visible - maybe I should still do more now! At least this made me spend more time in reflection, in prayer.

Monday 13th - the night before we find out. Journal Entry.

The decision was taking longer than expected. We were supposed to find out on Monday lunch (close of e-voting) - instead, we were told Tuesday morning! Yet, as by this journal entry written as a prayer to God below, things were getting better in my mind ...

This sure has been an incredible experience. How little we get to wait, people like us. Maybe some short days before the job offer we really want, or a girl to say yes to our date or proposal, or nervous moments during an auction. But generally, for Those Of Us Who Have Had Life Handed To Us On A Platter, anxious moments are rare (and even when they come, they tend to be about not really life and death things – like this, actually …!).

And in my 4 days of waiting – from the reality of Thursday night (the night before we had to give our speech) to now (Monday night, when voting closed), have been a long, long roller coaster ride. Far more than I thought it would be, in my rational mind. I have gone from thinking we are certainties to we are no chance to now being somewhere in the middle. In such cases, imagination can be a killer. Every time I pause I picture an email with their names emblazoned: “Congratulations to our new class co-presidents!”. I role play in my head a thousand times what I will say in victory and defeat. I imagine the exhilaration of winning and the pain and bitterness of defeat. I imagine the awkward moments after everyone knows we lost to having everyone know me and compliment me after we won. All replayed in my head, again and again, involuntarily. And when the future doesn’t play out in my head, the past does. I see my classmates and my reflex is to analyze: “Did they vote for me? Well, that’s one. All I need is about 180 or so.” I extrapolate people’s actions in voting intentions, having to stop myself constantly.

But, Father, I extract much encouragement from this all. For starters, a peace and contentment has come over me. Secondly, a pragmatism about both my chances and how life moves on regardless has set in. It’s a great opportunity to do some great things and learn a lot; but so are much of the opportunities I have at business school.

Lastly but most importantly, I am realizing the real issue: do I trust you? Or do I only trust God when Things Work Out The Way I Want Them To? (If that is the case, what kind of "faith" is that?!) Yes, I do - no matter what.

Amen.

Tuesday 14th, 10:55am ... that email.

Class of 2007 GSB SA Winter Election Results!

Congratulations to the entire Class of 2007 for another incredible 89% voter turnout!

As always a number of races were really close, so every vote counted.
Thanks to everyone who ran and best of luck to the new leadership teams!

Please help us congratulate your classmates!

Co-Presidents
John Foong & Robyn Goldman

... and now a whole new challenge begins! What an adventure.