Before tenth grade year, I made a vow to myself that I would not go to bed at night until I had done my work to my satisfaction. That year, for first and second quarters, on the curve, and because of the quality of my leaf collection and research paper on circadian rhythms, I was 78 points ahead all sections in sophomore biology. In the advanced and smallest geometry class, I was also the top test scorer and at the end of the year, won the award for "Most Oustanding Geometry Student." I was inducted into the National Honor Society and also won the essay contest that it sponsored that year. All of these things made me want to be even better as a student, and gave me the confidence to set out into the sphere of student leadership. I organized a fun campaign and made a range of striking posters featuring popular figures from Janet Jackson to “Ernest” of “KnowhutI mean” fame. The Janet Jackson poster featured her face, and cascading black hair, and the earring hanging from her ear in the shape of a key was three-dimensional, and it said “If I am elected, you won’t have to wait a while for me to take control.” I also had signature buttons featuring slogans such as “Elect Riche and Make the Difference” and “Vote for Riche’, She Cares.” My campaign committee wrote and performed a rap and popularized slogans such as “Riche’, Riche, All the Way!” Standing at the podium, I boldly ended my speech by saying, “And finally, one more thing. Remember, that if I am elected, you won’t have to wait a while for me to take control. KnowhutImean? (quick wink at the audience). Thank you.” The student body went wild over the speech ending and the wink, which gave it a sultry edge. The wink was totally unscripted and spontaneous on my part but entirely stole the day, and many people complimented me on how great it was. People just seemed uplifted. This was especially true of the senior guys remaining among those who had harassed me outside the gym on rainy days as a ninth grader and given me the nickname “Sexy,” and some of them remarked that “We knew you had it in you!” A year later, I was elected student council president, a goal that I'd had even "before" I arrived at the high school, so it was a dream come true. As I ended my term as SGA president, and introduced the slate of candidates who were up for election, I chose to give a very bold and direct (even angry) speech that confronted a lot of what I felt was a lack of ambition among some in the student body, and ongoing problems like detention, saying things such as "You can't do what people at public schools do because you're different, you're you . . . and if you think soooo much of students at public schools, JOIN THEM!(pointing to the door of the gym)" I ended the speech with the words "Learn to work, learn to like it, and learn to love yourselves. Stay out of detention. Stop wasting your time. Then and only then, will you “take it to the top.” I got a standing ovation.
