I have never been popular in my life. In my never ending pursuit of knowledge I decided to explore the realm of popularity. Before I could discover the majestic world of fame (the land of ASB) I had to find out more about the foundation. The members of the Associated Student Body are not just there by inheritance, they must earn their right in the hierarchy of high school popularity.
So, how does one achieve this honor? A common route is by joining Senate, also known as the gateway to the kingdom which is ASB. This gateway intrigued me because many join, but few proceed to the next level.
It wasn’t enough for me to ask members of Senate or ASB to find the truth of becoming popular. I knew they would give sugarcoating answers and make it seem like the road is all sparkles and rainbows. I felt that the only way to give the Barons the truth was to go incognito and visit some of the “poster parties” Senate hosts after school.
My feelings would best be described as apprehensive. I have heard many things about Senate prior to my planned trip. “Senate is like ASB’s little elves,” says Vinh Vu (’12) This is coming from a man who is on homecoming court, on a popularity level almost equal to ASB. “Aren’t they a lower echelon of ASB?” Jaime Tran (’12) said, as you can tell Jaime is just your average nerd (who uses the word echelon outside of math class?), but he shares the same view of Senate as many other students on campus.
Before I had arrived to the gateway of popularity I expected to see something similar to scenes of a missionary visiting a third world country. I could imagine it already. It would look exactly like Sam Childers seeing the poor children of East Africa for the first time in the movie “Machine Gun Preacher”, except it would be little senators slaving away on posters in a blazing inferno.
When I arrived I saw it. The little senators were toiling away on posters, but it wasn’t just them. ASB was also helping out. It was amazing, I thought I would see elves slaving away while the ASB leaders fed on the grapes of servants. This is probably the only time ASB is helping senate I thought to myself.
Maybe ASB was just “giving back” to the community and being nice that day. I had to visit again to ensure that it was just a charity act. The second visit was even more stirring. ASB was there again making posters with the senators. I even made a poster with a senator and conversed about the whole idea of senate and ASB.
“We really feel like we help to encourage school spirit and contribute to a positive school environment.” said Harrison Nguyen (’14) when I asked him what he thinks Senate does for Fountain Valley. This answer was very mature and shocked me to some degree. I was reluctant to believe that all senators felt this way. This Harrison Nguyen kid was probably just an exception.
The rest of the senators were hungry for the fame of ASB right? The thing is they weren’t. I interacted with several other members of senate and I admit I had fun. In fact, I befriended several members of Senate and my viewpoint has changed.
After my visits I realized that the students on Senate have a genuine desire to help our school. They treated me as an equal even though my popular points were not as high as theirs. It was a loving environment and the marvelous element about it all was that you have fun.
However, because Senate attends many school events and helps around campus frequently, these students become more well-known and “popular”. It’s something that is inevitable and maybe they deserve it, after all they do provide a better atmosphere at school for all of us. We can all agree to what Kanye said in School Spirit, “Back to school and I hate it there, I hate it there.” and Senate tries it’s best to make it as fun as possible.
So, next time you see Senate working on their posters, you should remind yourself that they’re doing it for you. If you’re feeling really generous ask to make a poster yourself, they don’t mind. Underneath all of the popularity and stardom, ASB and Senate are people too and amicable ones at that.
