"What Participating in the Mock Election Meant to Me"

Sohum
7th Grade
East Hanover Middle School
East Hanover, NJ

The most oft-repeated slogan in political history has to be "Change." I used to think that people who campaigned under it were irrationally optimistic, but this year's Mock Election showed me otherwise. In my school, the main event of the Mock Election was to be a speech forum, consisting of students giving speeches as presidential candidates, followed by the school-wide election. I was given the role of then-Senator Barack Obama, a dream come true for me. Ever since his election to the Senate in 2004, Senator Obama had become my role model. And now, I was being given the chance to represent him in front of the whole school! For weeks, I feverishly researched Senator Obama's ideas and his views, reading countless transcripts of his speeches, and slowly writing my own. Finally, the day came, and I stood up in front of the school and began to speak. I began by talking about Senator Obama's ideas and initiatives, but as the speech went on, I found myself thinking, not about the text of my speech, but about what it really meant. I finished what I was saying, and then, in front of the whole school, ripped my speech in half. There was instant silence. I began to speak once more, not as someone trying to win an election, but as a twelve year old full of hope for a terrific future. I finished my speech, and was greeted by a thunderous round of applause. In that moment, I knew that no matter who won, the Presidential Election of 2008 would mark the beginning of a new chapter in history.

Being a part of the Mock Election had a big impact on me. It displayed the immense power that kids have in the modern world, even though we can't vote. I was astounded by how my classmates and friends, usually indifferent to the political world, rose to the occasion, debating about foreign policy and the economy in the halls and arguing about Iraq and North Korea over lunch.

The mock election left me with a special kind of hope, which made me feel like I could do anything and be anyone I wanted. It has shown me that among the many people who tote the motif of "change," there are some who really mean what they say.

You know, they say that, "In America, any kid can grow up to become President." Well, that was always and still is, one of my dreams. But there was always one, big roadblock. Though I'm proud to have been an American from birth, I am the son of two parents who emigrated from India. This used to make me feel that I could never become that proverbial kid. President Obama's candidacy and election changed that belief. That is what participating in this year's Mock Election really meant to me: an end to all of the unfair glass ceilings in life. And remember, Vote for Sohum Pawar as President in 2035!