Posted by Melissa Aragon in Question for the Candidates: “Encouraging others” to move into higher positions.
This is for both tickets. Whether answered by each of the four of you or as two tickets, that’s up to you.

I hear everyone saying ‘encouraging members to be in higher positions’. Limiting terms, opening other positions, etc.

I have been with the club over 10 years. In that time, “I” asked to be XO, “I” asked to be CO, and until just the last year, “I” always asked for DH positions. So I am guessing I don’t hold the qualities people are looking for to be ‘encouraged’ to be FComm, VP, Prez, or any other cabinet or Exec position higher than the CO position I currently hold.

So with that in mind… what qualities ARE you looking for? That way the new folks know what to expect and those of us who have never been asked can perhaps work on those slights so we can be ‘encouraged’ in the future.

Thank you for your answers in advance.
Melissa

Hi Melissa,

This is an excellent question and one we’re already planning to address in our next platform post, so I won’t be answering as much of the “how” here as you might prefer, but I invite you to stay tuned shortly. In general, the number one quality that I’d like to see in anyone is a willingness to ask questions and to learn.

I’m in the unique position where I genuinely can’t speak for what happened over the last decade. :) My history as President speaks well to my desire to see new members active and involved in the club in the manner which they would like to be. I appointed a new member both CO and FComm (he still hates me for that, whoops) because he was the most qualified candidate at the time. I ran with a new member as my VP to give him the background in STF politics he needed to later become Prez himself (twice over). My terms saw over 15 new members promoted to Captain and assigned to their first commands. We need new members to feel invested and involved in the club.

The feeling that I’m getting from your post is that you’ve been discouraged by the lack of outreach and encouragement at various times in your STF career. Is that correct? I hope that we can discuss that should we be elected; I’d really like to hear about how this could have been handled better.

• Sarah