I was drawn towards politics from a young age because I wanted to make the world a better place, particularly for the most vulnerable members of society. I began serving as the “Commissioner of Community Action” in the student government of my private Christian high school when I was only a freshman, having been appointed to the position by the school administration when the older student who had been elected was unable to serve for some reason. In addition to regular student government responsibilities, my position was in charge of setting up volunteer opportunities for the student body and rallying the troops to participate in community service activities. I really enjoyed it. At the end of ninth grade, I ran for re-election and won. I was also re-elected to the position the following year.
As my third “term” neared its end my Junior year, I decided that I would run for the head position: Commissioner of Student Affairs, the official title for the president. After all, there were only four other officer positions on the student government, and I had been in my position longer than any of the other officers (in fact, due to the appointment my freshman year - a year when students typically are not eligible to hold officer positions - I was probably one of the only students in the history of the high school who would serve as an officer all four years). I was the most experienced, and everyone in my small private school knew that I could do it.
I did the things that I needed to do to properly run for the head position. I turned in the required papers, informed the administrators, and started preparing to launch my campaign. Before the campaigning was scheduled to begin, the student council officers gathered for a meeting with our faculty advisor. The advisor asked if any of us were considering running for the Student Affairs position. As I recall, I was the only one of the current officers who raised their hand. One of the other officers spoke up, however, and said that he heard that another student was considering running, a student who was not currently on the student council. A sophomore. A boy.
After some discussion amongst the other officers and the faculty advisor, they reached the consensus that the boy would be a good leader. I would also be a good leader, they all agreed, but since there was a boy who would be good for the job, it would be better to have him do it. After all, the men were supposed to be the leaders. When I questioned why it would be better to have a boy when we had a girl serve as the student council leader a couple of years prior, the advisor explained that, when she ran, there really weren’t any boys who wanted the job.
This was the way that Jesus commanded, they reminded me. I remember nodding my head as if this made sense.
The boy ran - unopposed, if my memory serves me correctly - and was elected to serve as the president of the student council the following year. Sure, I could have run against him, if I wanted to go against God, the faculty, and the other student government officers. My senior year, I again held the position of the Commissioner of Community Action, but my heart was not in it. I never campaigned for another elected position again after that. I accepted a couple of appointments, and I campaigned for others running for election, but any time I thought about putting my name in the hat, I found a reason to support someone else instead.
Today, along with millions of women around the country, I watched through tears as the Honorable Kamala Harris took the oath to serve as Vice President of the United States. A man - her husband Doug Emhoff - stood beside her, supporting her as he had her entire candidacy. As she stood there, repeating the words of an oath repeated by so many men before her, her strong, unwavering voice emanated the confidence of a person who has earned their place in the world. A leader in every sense, she stood firm and proud. She stood for the country, for people of color, and for women.
She stood for girls: young girls who want to become leaders, and grown up girls who would have, once upon a time.
