Student government is very similar to a construction site. You have carpenters, electricians, heavy-equipment operators, and even the workers that just hold the traffic sign and make one wonder what it is about that job that merits a paycheck. These talented contributors to the project are focused on their own expertise—the carpenters are the utmost authorities in their trade, and although they are responsible for a small part of the final product, it is a crucial and significant part nonetheless. And then there’s the foreman—the overseer of the job. A consummate leader, the foreman is responsible for the tuning and the coordination of the team in completing its mission.

One can equate the team of the foreman, carpenters, electricians, heavy-equipment operators, and, yes, the sign-holders, to local high school student government presidents, vice presidents, and their complement other officers. Concerned with the small sphere of school life, local school governments squabble over homecoming courts, spirit days, and the decoration of the home team’s bleachers for Friday night’s big game. In the state of Maryland, school student governments are members of the state student government association, which is responsible for dealing with weightier issues: tasks such as lobbying Maryland legislators, organizing state-wide charities, and teaching leadership lessons to youth state-wide.

After half a year of being an “electrician,” serving as my school’s student government treasurer, I learned of an opportunity to run for the state’s student government president at the annual Maryland Association of Student Councils Convention. I assembled fellow “electricians” and “heavy-equipment operators” from my county in my basement bi-weekly. Using the slogan “Amalfitano: Difficult Last Name, Easy Choice,” our team constructed t-shirts, designed flyers, and assembled stickers. Practicing a little politics, we even reached out into neighboring and distant counties in Maryland, expanding the geographic influence of our team while asking them to create some materials for our cause.

Our momentum rumbled right into the state-wide convention in Ocean City, where I had exactly forty-eight hours to convince 1000 middle and high school students that I should be their leader for the next year. Pitted against two other candidates with experience at the state-level, I faced an uphill battle. Sporting the classic sports jacket, bolstered by an enthusiastic crew of staff members clad in neon yellow campaign shirts, I began a barrage of hand-shaking, flyer-passing, and small-talking. I skipped my lunch, choosing instead to travel the hallway from caucus room to caucus room. Due to the time limitations imposed, I had to choose the counties to whom I would speak, and which counties to skip, based on population, proximity to my county, and whether their county presented another presidential candidate. I became a builder of student advocacy, fluidly and ardently constructing policy on topics of student representation in Maryland.

This invigorating whirlwind episode in politicking climaxed with a speech and question-and-answer period in front of the entire delegation. When all was said and done, my team and I had constructed a campaign founded on respectful cooperation between its foreman and his specialists. Although I was not elected president of the Maryland Association of Student Councils, missing by a narrow margin, my campaign itself, by bringing issues of real consequence to the student government forum, established a firm foundation upon which this year’s programming is built.

Never will I say I failed. My resume, like most, is a compilation of my successes and activities. This non-entry on that list may have taught me more than anything on it. My most significant accomplishment is not an accomplishment per se. I learned what it was like to put myself on the line, at the whim of each voting delegate. There is no such thing as failure, for we can only try to enjoy our successes, and learn from the areas in which we fall short. It is not the “foreman” of the world who alone makes success, but their effective leadership of an entire team of specialized workers who build success.