Everyone knows that student council looks good on your college application. However, joining student council goes beyond just leadership and teamwork skills, student council can help you build memories, relationships and even learn about your personal goals.
It Looks Good
Leadership looks good. It doesn't matter if you are applying to a job or college, showing that you have leadership skills helps you to stand out among the crowd. This is important when everyone around you is vying for a spot at your coveted university. You want to make your skills stand out and student council can do this. It also shows colleges that you have determination, grit and know how to get things done. Colleges love that.
It's All About Politics
Maybe as a kid you dreamed of being the president. Student council can be your first step. By joining student council, you're going to learn all about the election process. Not only will you create slogans, election material and write speeches, you'll begin to understand where you stand on important issues in your community and school. Once you enter student council, you'll gain experience with working with a team and professional documents. You'll learn to look beyond homework and exams and see how the skills that you are learning might be applied to the real-world as you network with other like-minded teens that want to make a difference.
Develop Your People Skills
Being a leader is all about getting the hearts of the people. Student council teaches you about yourself and how you interact with people. Not only will you refine your communication and team work skills, you'll begin to understand how attitude is important. As you talk with individual students and large groups or community professionals, you'll learn effective communication, debate, and persuasion skills. Your dedication and commitment to your projects and improving your school will also begin to shine. Push this to the max by making sure you talk to everyone. Become a leader among your student council. Who knows, your award winning personality might be what lands you a place in Harvard.
Managing a Team
You're not a lone ranger in this journey. You'll connect with others outside of your school and community and work with other council members to make things happen. This not only teaches you about working together and how getting other's opinions is important but gives you management and leadership experience. On some projects, you might need to take the helm while for others you sit back and provide guidance. For example, you might choose to head an after-school program for your community or you might offer guidance as a group to change your school from using Styrofoam plates at lunch to reusable ones. Whatever the situation, you learn to be a leader and stand up for your student bodies rights to improve your school and community. Make sure you get the most out of this by not just going with the flow. Your opinions matter and are important so voice them.
Expand Your Horizons
Student councils work to improve their schools, but it goes beyond that. Through donating your time to a charity in your community or hosting a charity event at your school, you'll begin to see how you can impact society. By learning how to sponsor events, business knowledge is gained. It also teaches you where your personal goals lie and what is important to you. The reward that you can feel from helping others in your community might expand to finding ways to help other communities. Through this, you'll also network with students that are outside of your community and home, which can create memories and experiences that you might not have otherwise gotten.
Learn About Yourself
Sometimes in high school you know who you are and sometimes you don't. Maybe you think that you shouldn't join student council; however, it can help you see your future. Not only will you learn about your work ethic and how you interact with others but might find a part of yourself that you never knew existed. Through debates and the election process, you might learn that you are a budding politician. By helping out your community, your heart might lie in service work. Through that sponsored event for an orphanage or hospital, your love for children and their welfare may begin to shine. While a great college resume is important, learning who you are as a person is priceless.
Making the Most of the Benefits
Your time as a council member is important. While you can sit back and do the least amount possible to get that shining mark on your college application, only through pushing yourself will you see the true rewards of this association. Therefore, to get the most of benefits, you need to step out of your bubble and try the things that are difficult. For example, run for president of your council or take on that spirit week project. You never know the valuable life skills that you might learn. Most important be the voice of your student body, share your opinions, be confident, have humility and fight for causes that are important.
Creating Healthy School Communities
You might think that student council doesn't offer much beyond a shining mark on your college application, but you'd be wrong. Through working with others, building leadership skills and helping your community, you just might find your true passion. If you want to take your membership a step further and run for an office, get some tips on writing a student council speech.
