Okay, prompted by a Paul Szabo, whose name I don’t even recognize name-wise, I’m going to tell, from my point of view, why I left SGA and why I’ve come back to it.
For those who don’t know the reasons I’ve changed a lot of my life lately, let me give you some relevant linkage:

Why I Left TOTK, which was as much a part of me as SGA was.

Contact, the story of how my life was irrevocably changed, even if I am kinda slow on the uptake.

Journeying, where I describe some other stuff.

Pilgrimage, about how you can go back some again–sort of, anyway.

Anyway, after all that, let’s get to the point of this one: SGA.

Back in March, I screwed up and campaigned before the legal campaign period. Dale Jobes, my opponent, filed a complaint, and rightly so. [I would have done the same in his shoes; we've been in SGA together before and work pretty well together.] When I finally found out about it–oh, two weeks later–I was pretty mad with myself. Hell, I wrote some of those campaign rules myself. I should know better.

What was my reaction? Much as I’m sitting here today typing at this [on my so-called lunch break], I sat and idly stared at my computer while I thought about what I’d done and what could potentially happen to me. I knew that one of the potential punishments was the removal of my candidacy status. My response to that was, “Well, if they throw me out, I won’t fight it.”

Fast forward to the meeting of the Elections Board. I had plenty of friends and acquaintances on there: James, our SGA President and my running mate the previous year; Jennifer F., a woman I once thought I loved and someone who’s been a good friend to me; Allison, with whom I’ve shared many a laugh over the stupidy in Montgomery; Eric, who’s a helluva good SGA rep, and it’s too bad he’s graduating in December; and Jennifer H., who also has given the SGA much good service. Did I think that would help me? Actually, no; I figured they’d be tougher on me than five people who didn’t know me.

In a way, they were.

During the day before the night meeting of the EB, I’d told the staff of The Exponent, UAH’s student paper, what I’d done. Unbelievably, they were holding the paper until the Board decided on my case. [I guess it's newsworthy, but really...] One member of the Elections Board [I won't say who, to protect them], after it was all over, told me that the Board was ready to give me a slap on the wrist. However, they wanted to wait until the paper ran before they decided either way.

So there I sat, ten or so days from election, my fate still unsure. I called my running mate at home. For those who don’t know, that would be PJ Benfield, the same joker I helped marry off last Saturday. PJ and I talked for a few minutes, and I was not what you’d call calm. =) PJ said to me, “If you want to drop out, I understand. I was doing this as much as a favor to you as anything else. I don’t need to be VP next year; you need to decide if you need to be SGA Pres. If it’s not something you want, don’t do it.”

At that point, I immediately flashed back to earlier that day, to my “Well, if they kick me out, I won’t fight it,” comment. WHAT?!?! I won’t fight? I’m the same person who fought for student rights and equitable funding all year, almost getting arrested because of it. I missed work to attend SGA functions. I let my GPA slip to keep things going with SGA while Kodi’s fate was in doubt. [There, I admitted to it.] All of that, all those four years, and I don’t care if I get thrown out?

I started to analyze–mind you, this happened in about five seconds of silence–why I was running. I was running, frankly, because I was expected to run. Even my choice of VP was political–I didn’t want the position of VP to be what you “had to do” to become SGA President at UAH. While I like bureaucracy and tradition where it’s appropriate–at UAH, I formed a good bit of it, with help from my friends–I was worried for the future even in my campaign. Heck, I originally wanted DJ as my VP until all the Greek stuff really got ugly between the ATO’s and the Sigma Nu’s. I decided to pick a non-Greek running mate in an effort to be above the fracas that was going on with those two groups.

But in short, I didn’t want the job. I never did. Heck, I didn’t want it when it looked pretty certain that Kodi was going to get kicked out of office. Yes, I would have taken it, but only because I knew where SGA was going last year and felt I could lead it better than someone from outside. Even as all that happened, though, I certainly didn’t want to be SGA President. If I had, I would have run for it the previous year when I had a pretty clear shot at it.

So I quit. Behind all of it was the realization that, the previous year, my church had asked me if I was interested in taking the Youth Director’s job on at least an interim basis. I told them no, but only because I’d just been elected VP. I realized what was happening again–I had another opportunity to apply, and I couldn’t pass it up again and forsake my vocation much longer. [But no, I don't have the job. I'm glad Darin does--he's ready to do it, and I am not.]

Now, how did I get back in? My last meeting as VP, I talked to DJ. I told him, “If you need someone for Judicial Council, I’ll do it.” I figured, hey, if they need someone to help guide them through the rocks and shoals, I can do that and not spend a lot of time on it. Now, I sit on J-Council with some of my contemporaries. As stated in my goals from the other day, I want to transfer my knowledge and dreams for SGA to paper before I leave. With this job, I’ll be able to do that and not be hyper-involved.

Do I think I would have beaten DJ? To be honest, yeah. There are plenty of people that are still irritated with me that I didn’t run. But my goal now, as a member of J-Council and being responsible for elections, is to evangelize SGA involvement to a greater section of the campus than I would be able to as SGA President. The President’s position’s pretty much a figurehead role; it’s really hard to do much of anything with the job, because everyone wants a piece of you. I think DJ knows that already.

So maybe that answers your question, Paul. I hope so; if not, or if any of the rest of you have questions, I’m leaving this entry open for comments. Ask away. =)