Grand Valley Student Narrowly Falls Short in Write-In Bid for School Board
Adam
Experience Information
Employer: Committee to Elect Adam Hukkala
Job Title: Candidate
Major: Political Science
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: No
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
I ran a write-in candidacy for the school district in my hometown. After only two people filed to run for three open positions, I saw this as a call to action and decided to throw my name in. The election became very heated after issues with the superintendent and the race ended with five write-in candidates including myself.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
As a candidate I was responsible for running my entire campaign. I worked on literature and campaigning working with various unions, the media, and voters.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
Organizational skills are incredibly important when it comes to a campaign. It's very difficult to run a campaign and I learned new organization skills to keep myself sane throughout the campaign. I also learned how to better communicate through my campaign. It's very difficult to work with that many parties, but I learned how to work well communicating and crafting my message.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part was talking to the voters. I learned a lot about what was wrong with the district and how voters want to improve it. I also learned that people in the community are very interested in the election and want to see real change come to our school board.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
It encouraged me to continue to campaign. Even though I lost the election, I realized I love campaigning and I want to stick with it. It's important that people have this attitude because we need leaders to run our country from our generation. I definitely want to campaign again, and I don't feel discouraged from my loss.