I love long meetings. Yes, you read that correctly: I love long meetings.

And the fact of the matter is that among Iowa State’s record-breaking number of 31,000 students, there is a group of about 60 students who mildly would agree with me.

In only eight weeks as a student at this university, I have heard many commentaries against the Government of the Student Body, but after a four-and-a-half hour senate meeting last Wednesday evening, I am reminded to take those criticisms with a grain of salt.

It is often forgotten that GSB members experience the same struggles as our fellow Cyclones. Exams aren’t easier because you’re the finance director, and my checkbook doesn’t get balanced just because I’m a senator. My colleagues and I attempt to improve student life, and while mistakes are made, we always have the best intentions.

GSB works almost tirelessly to represent students at all levels throughout the university. From student fees to CyRide, GSB performs a public service because of the recognized need to advocate and act on behalf of students’ best interests.

This is not a task GSB members are singularly responsible for. Real, substantive discourse from students is necessary to do our jobs effectively. Philosopher Joseph de Maistre once noted that people get the government they deserve. And while GSB is not faultless, effective governance must be a collaborative consequence derived from the “consent of the governed.”

GSB recognizes not every problem can be solved by another resolution and no one will claim that bills will fulfill every need, but we do recognize that we are the elected leadership of the students and are therefore responsible to be the change students want to see on campus.

GSB is not a placeholder in the West Student Office Space, and it’s hardly just the source of funding for student organizations. GSB, within the name itself, seeks to uphold similar political principles to those of President Abraham Lincoln, being a government — of the student body.

While long meetings in and of themselves are not a source of joy, the content of those meetings — the change that I can help happen — gives me the will and determination to “fight, fight, fight for Iowa State.”