Thomas Jefferson, one of my personal heroes — and one hell of a legislator — once said, “Power is not alluring to pure minds.” If Jefferson were to sit in on some of the backdoor politicking currently going on in the Student Assembly, he would think that our minds are as dirty as a New Jersey sewer. Thus, when I evaluate the actions of the S.A., I like to follow the logic of a different politician: the ancient Roman judge, Lucius Cassius, who would repeatedly ask himself, “Cui bono?” which literally means “To whose benefit?”

Mike Walsh grad, current student-elected trustee, calls his job the loneliest student leader position on campus. It’s true — being on the Board of Trustees means interacting with a slew of stone-faced alumni as they hash out the future of our University. And being a student means listening to peers and fighting for their rights. To be an intermediary between these two groups requires a strong will while also being malleable to change.

On Friday campaigning began for the highest position a student can hold on campus: the Student Trustee. This will be the person getting cozy with the Milsteins, the Tatas, and the Meinigs, just to name a few.

Cornell is one of the few institutions around the country that not only gives undergrads a seat on the Board of Trustees, but also allows them to vote. And to quote the guy who does the voice-overs for movie trailers, “Many will try, but only one can win.”

I’m letting you know in part so you can be prepared for an onslaught of quarter-carding, walking to class on colorful chalked-up roads and getting very familiar with Facebook ads for the next couple of weeks. More importantly, I’m letting you know so that you can actually vote.

There’s a lot Nepal has that America doesn’t: An overabundance of dal-bhat, load-shedding, hoards of small children who attack you asking for a chocolate, scary amounts of pollution that make the sun burn bright red in the sky in the middle of the afternoon, severed pig and goat heads sometimes still covered in fur and lying appetizingly out just waiting to be bought and fried up and, of course, Everest. But the most unexpected: Student assembly elections that people actually care about.

Whether you are returning to campus for your second semester or for your last semester, welcome back!

I am the senior student-elected trustee on Cornell University’s Board of Trustees. Two of the 64 trustees on the Board are students elected by the undergraduate and graduate student body to serve two-year, staggered terms. Cornell is the only Ivy League institution with students who serve as voting members of the University’s highest governing body.