As for the 1st Vice Presidency, this position on the board is unique in its flexibility. There are a few specifically defined tasks for the 1st Vice-President to undertake. The ultimate aim of a 1st Vice President is to increase membership in the JCL. In the pursuit of that effort, if you earn this position, you will be expected to work closely with your 2nd Vice-President counterpart to ensure a smooth, well-planned, and well-advertised National Classics Week. You will work with him/her and the rest of the board to come up with all planned activities (the overall theme, the theme of each day, and the spirit and service projects for each day) and create an accompanying packet to be distributed across the nation.
A word to the wise: plan your project(s) carefully before you get into the position and think it/them through so that you can implement it/them right away. One of the difficulties of overseeing membership is that many chapters find their most fertile season for recruitent in the first weeks of school, right when you are still settling into the role of 1st VP. As a result, many of the results of your efforts will only be carried to fruition in the following yearly cycles. A thorough plan will enable you to hit the ground running right away.
As for the campaign itself, I have only a handful of suggestions. First, find the most brutally honest, kind-hearted friend you have - whether s/he be a teacher, someone in your chapter, a parent, etc- and read all your prepared remarks to them. Make sure you have drafts of your General Session and NomCom speeches ready about a week before convention, so you have ample time to get them torn apart by your friend and frantically rewrite them (in the hour before you give one at General Assembly and NomCom in front of 1,500 onlookers, if necessary - our secret). Practice, practice, practice. Practice everything: your elevator pitch (30-second introduction of yourself and your platform you can recite on command), your speeches, etc. And finally, when the time comes, pray dearly to whatever God(s) you keep. I cannot wait to see your ground-shaking campaigns.
Advice for the Office of 1st VP
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Aleah Malik / 2018 - 2019 / NJCL 1st VP
~ Tim Han (2017-2018 NJCL 1st VP)