Sarah Jane Martinez

Every Friday I walk into a fluorescent-lit classroom with computers lining the walls and a sense of quietness fills the room. As the morning ticks on by the quietness lifts and is replaced with the clicking of keyboards. I never thought I would enjoy descriptive writing, but I like being able to paint a picture using only words. I've always wanted to be able to draw or paint, but writing is a good alternative to my lack of artistic ability. Leaving the classroom and visiting the SJSU statue and Japanese internment memorial brought a needed change of scenery. On the other hand the vocabulary assignments felt unnecessary and a waste of my time. I know I'm never going to use those words again. This was one of the first assignments and I dreaded the rest were going to be as boring. I'm glad I was wrong.

I could feel everyone's eyes watching my every move, I became hyper aware that what I was about to bare my soul to everyone. Standing in front of my peers, allowing myself to be judged was the scariest experience of my life — and the most freeing. I never once thought I would have the confidence to run for an elected position, but exactly one week ago I was standing at the podium ready to fight for the position of secretary. After a night of drinking some liquid courage I impulsively declared my candidacy to be Akbayan's next years secretary. Fast-forward two weeks and I was a nervous wreck constantly questioning if I was good enough and if I deserve the position. Everyone was telling me they believed in me, but I couldn't bring myself to believe in me. After talking with some friends and mentors, I finally sat down and began writing out my thoughts. The more I wrote, the more I realized how badly I wanted to give back and improve the organization that gave me...