Another Convention has passed us by in a whirlwind of posters, speeches, and debates. Despite last year’s nail-biting presidential tie, Convention 2016 was jam-packed with excitement and insights.

For the office of ASB Business Manager, Jessie Cahill and Tori Lambert went head-to-head, resulting in a split vote that was decided by a runoff vote. Elena Lev and Gabriel Halaweh ran for the office of ASB Vice President. The ASB Presidency was contested for by Marie Alameida, Koa Lua, Sean Young, and Stephanie Lovrin. The competition was tough and the races were close, and the polls resulted in the election of Sean, Gabriel, and Jessie.

This year presidential candidate Koa Lua rapped his candidate speech, a fun twist on the traditional which many enjoyed.

I sat down with ASB President Elect Sean Young to ask him about his Convention experience.

How do you think convention went? What was the experience like for you?

SEAN: I think the experience was very fun, but it was very nerveracking to be in front of so many people.

What are your plans for the leadership class next year?

SEAN: I want to work with leadership and the student body in order to make everyone’s the best it can be at Analy.

Is there any goal in particular you want to accomplish?

SEAN: I want to get the student body to be more inclusive of each other in order for events, like rallies and dances, to be more awesome!

A long-standing tradition of convention is hosting a guest speaker, and this year we had one of the best speakers Analy has seen in many years. Marlon Smith is an electrical engineer and motivational speaker, and we had the honor of hearing him speak prior to the candidate speeches. Marlon emphasized important themes concerning academic and personal integrity, a speech many students felt that the school as a whole very much needed to hear. We will get knocked down in life (a message conveyed by a story of throwing his shoulder out of socket), but what matters is if we get up or not. We must recover from these blows because we can always do more, for ourselves and for those around us.

Marlon touched on a subject very relevant to convention: leadership. After a tragic story of peer-pressuring resulting in the death of his good friend, Marlon reminded us all that “Leadership is not a title; leadership is a lifestyle”. We lead in the actions we take every day; in the classroom, with our friends, and in our communities. Leadership is more than just the position held in a class. It is not an exclusive group of students; we are all leaders. What we do today determines what generations after us will do tomorrow, and we are all responsible. How will next year’s student body contribute to and change Analy? What about the year after? Our current actions determine that future, and we must consider what legacy we leave. As an ex-ASB Officer and current student leader, I can say that the best way to approach this is to take Marlon’s advice; we must learn from our mistakes and enact positive change within our day-to-day lives.