Cari and Landon sat there, hearts pounding and palms sweaty. Only one question really mattered now; who was the new Student Body President?
To their amazement not only did both of them win, but they had made history, having the first tie for the Student Body President office. I got the chance to sit down with both of them this summer to see what events and news they have for this school year.
Cari: Make me sound smart okay? I don’t want people to think I don’t know what I’m talking about. (Laughing)
Landon: Yeah I’m not good at interviews but I’ll do my best.
Natalie: So what do y’all have planned for Student Council this year?
Cari: Okay, well, we really want to unify our Student Council. It’s really clique-y. (Landon shakes head in agreement) And one of our goals is to not make it so clique-y.
Natalie: Landon what do you have to say?
Landon: Well, one of my big goals for this year is communication. One of the things we did this year was that we made a Facebook page. By putting those events on the Facebook page–
Cari: Shout out to Justin Lewis for that!
Landon: (Looks over in agreement) Yes, thanks to Justin Lewis for that. My goal is communication, making sure people are aware of events. [It] kind of ties in with unifying our Student Council. By communicating, we will be closer and everyone will know what’s going on.
Natalie: So what changes are y’all going to make other than unifying the Student Council?
Cari: Well, it’s a big change that we’re [unifying and communicating] together, and a lot of people are saying it’s not going to work. But we’ve already sat down and talked about it.
Landon: We’re trying to show people that you can have authority in two different places, instead of the usual having your president over here when you really need him/her over there. (Cari shakes head in agreement) So by having two presidents we can be in two different places at one time and get more done.
Natalie: So what special events lie ahead for Student Council?
Cari: We have homecoming, Race for the Cure, the junior Student Council members are doing the Welcome Wagon for the teachers, umm…
Landon: We have Texas vs. Arkansas week, and that’s a pretty big event. (Cari nods)
Natalie: Is their anything you want to tell the newbies or freshman who want to be in Student Council or who aren’t in Student Council and want to be involved?
Cari: Oh absolutely, my big thing is get involved in anyway you can. Even if it’s not joining Student Council, ya know, don’t be afraid to dress up on spirit days, and don’t be afraid to come to our first Student Council meeting, which is the night of the first day of school. We’re not intimidating; we’re not mean people. We’d love to have you there at our first meeting. If you have any questions, we can answer them at the meeting.
Landon: Starting out freshman year, I really didn’t get involved in Student Council as much as I am now. I got more involved my sophomore and junior years, and now that it’s my senior year, I feel getting involved with organizations like Student Council, TigerVision and Leadership was the best decision I ever made. Getting involved can, and will, make your high school career much more enjoyable.
Natalie: So what is your favorite flavor of jello?
Cari: I actually don’t like jello because in eighth grade Blake McCown and a bunch of his friends had a survivor birthday party and we had to eat jello with these sardines or some kind of like weird thing in it.
Landon: Well, I actually like jello, I want to say my favorite is the lemon-lime flavor? Like the yellowish green looking jello. I don’t know.
Natalie: So we’ve all seen the movie Transformers, right?
Landon: Yeah, I saw the second one.
Cari: Yeah, I’ve seen it.
Natalie: If you could transform into something what would it be?
Cari: Oooh….that’s a really good question…I would say I would transform into a fly.
Natalie: A fly?
Cari: Yes, into a fly because I think it would be really cool. If I was a fly, then I would transform into a fly on the wall of the White House to see how they run their government in ways people don’t know about. Just like Student Council, Landon and I are co-presidents and we can talk about something all day long that may never be known to others. What the officers talk about and what other people discuss–that could be totally different.
Landon: Yeah, that’s true.
Cari: So I think it would be cool to transform into a fly on the wall in the White House.
Natalie: Landon?
Natalie: Oh yeah!
Cari: That would be awesome!
Natalie: Okay, last question. What did it feel like to hear your name being called as the Student Body president?
Cari: I was really happy because this was something I’d worked for and thought about and strived for. (Landon nods) I’ve tried–well, I’m the type of person that doesn’t do something or anything just for the title. I love Texas High. I love being a part of TISD, and I want to help people feel that way too. So to have that opportunity–well, it almost seems surreal. I was like, okay, it’s a new challenge, and I like challenges, so I looked at it as a new adventure.
Landon: I was kind of relieved and happy. I decided to run for Student Body president because I felt like I’ve worked hard, and I was taught if you work hard for something, all of it will pay off in the end. Don’t get me wrong, I would have worked just as hard if I didn’t win, but I had campaigned all week and talked to people, and at the end of the week it was like a…
Natalie: Like a weight off your shoulders?
Landon: Yeah, it was like, “Wow did that really just happen?” In all of TISD history this has NEVER happened before. It made me really excited, because I’m a part of history. The fact that people are doubting it and saying it’s not going to work…I just want to prove those people wrong.
