The Winner

By Connor Simpson

After two long days of voting, the waiting is over.  

The real waiting, the kind that makes the back of your neck itchy, or that makes you rock back and forth like a crazy person, began after the polls closed on Wednesday night. The voting came to a stop at nine o'clock. The scrutineers reported to the Student Union offices, the doors were locked, and we all waited. We sat and watched our cell phones and computer screens, waiting for them to light up with the news, with at least a name. Expecting an announcement around ten o'clock, word trickled out that the election had a 50.4% voter turn out, a personal best for the UPEI student body. But that meant that the ballot counting would take even longer, which meant more waiting for us, and the candidates. 

My cell phone exploded with the news at 12:14 AM. Texts rolled in, "Tim - Jrod - Shawn." And we had our executive.  

The first name is the one that really matters. He's our unifier, our leader, our mouth. He is the one who is assigned the duties of playing with our money, making it rain on whatever cause or concern we have.  

Tim Cullen, our newly elected president, is ready for the job.  

He wouldn't confirm if he was suffering from any victory-celebration after-effects. When asked if he was hungover, Tim, the consummate politician, responded with, "no comment." 

Joking aside, he was having trouble processing his win. "It's difficult to describe the feeling you get when you know that other people really voted for you to actually do something," he said. "To be bestowed this honer is really something, and to know that so many people turned out to vote and be a part of an election that clearly generated a lot of enthusiasm and interest in the student union on behalf of the student body, I'm thrilled."  

He officially begins his term as president on May first, a day he looks forward to. He plans on spending the summer holed up in the dark corners of the Student Union office, scrubbing away any pesky stains and familiarizing himself with the policy handbook so that when the rest of us come back, we have a spiffy, shiny new Student Union ready to, "hit the ground running."  

He isn't quick to forget about his many opponents that he blew through to assume his post. "I'm not one to abandon an idea just because it wasn't mine. I'm plan to pursue parts of their platforms that students seemed interested in," he said. "I intend to get in touch with each of them over the next few days and see how they can be involved next year in some of the things that they were interested in doing."  

Tim understands that he has a lot of work ahead of him, but he's also very excited, and honored, to step up to the challenges that lay ahead. We, the public, are more than excited to watch what happens next. The ball's in your court, sir.