My Speech

I could stand up here for two minutes and tell you everything I want to change. But that would defeat the point of being a representative.

A class rep shouldn’t be the person who speaks the most. They should be the one who makes sure everyone gets heard. My name is Max Parisi, and I’m interested in representing our whole class, not just the voices we hear most often.

A few years ago in PE, my middle school class was playing dodgeball and huddled up to make a game plan. I had what I thought was a pretty good idea, but I was too nervous to speak up. We moved on without it. I learned that just having an idea isn’t enough. Someone has to hear it.

But how would I actually represent you? I’ll find out what people actually want, bring realistic ideas forward, and make an effort to hear as many people as possible. If you elect me, I’m not promising I’ll magically fix Branson. I’m promising I’ll listen.

If you asked the five loudest people in our class what everyone wants, you’d probably get a very confident answer. But I’m not sure you’d get the right one. Loud opinions are often mistaken for everyone’s opinion. I’ll use polls, conversations, and anonymous suggestions to find out what our class actually wants, and then bring those ideas forward. My goal isn’t to make the loudest voices louder. It’s to make sure we hear the voices we haven’t heard yet.

Again, I’m Max, and although I can’t promise I’ll be able to do everything, I can promise that I’ll listen. Thank you.

— Max Parisi, Class of 2030