Rachel Junck is going to be a great City Council member representing Ames’ Fourth Ward after she gets elected in November. Rachel was my student in AP U.S. History (APUSH) during her sophomore year at Ames High School. I wholeheartedly endorse Rachel for three reasons: she’s curious and knows how to learn, she thinks of leadership as service and her character qualifies her to represent Iowa State students to the city of Ames.

What impressed me about Rachel as a high school student was that she would ask questions stemming from her curiosity rather than the “will this be on the test” syndrome. Every teacher knows that curious students are better than incurious ones. An essential quality for anyone learning to do anything is their desire to learn and become proficient. Rachel is the kind of person who knows how to learn because her perseverance is driven by a curiosity that fosters problem solving skills.

During her senior year at Ames High School, Rachel served for two semesters as my teaching assistant (TA). Being my TA is no glorious post. She graded quizzes, helped keep my grade book up to date, made photocopies, typed tests and patiently helped me assess student writing (painful labor that is). I personally find it remarkable that a senior in high school would volunteer to help a teacher manage their workload for no pay. What it shows about Rachel is that she understands that leadership is service in a worthy cause. She understands the power of many of us working for the common good, especially now.

Rachel is currently an Iowa State student. ISU students are about half of the population of Ames and yet they have no voting representative on the Ames City Council. A large number of issues that are decided by City Council have direct impacts on ISU students. In our current hyper partisan environment where women are underrepresented, we need young, energetic, highly motivated, non partisan women like Rachel who can learn on the job and persevere to solve problems. Rachel is going to be a great City Council member. I honestly think she is going to be a great U.S. Senator, but that is for another day. Please vote for Rachel Junck on Nov. 5.