Sophomore James Mu is one of the SMOB candidates in this year’s election and is a perfect example of what a SMOB candidate should look like as he is involved in the school community, and his schedule is rigorous. Mu has his eyes set on the election on Apr. 22.

Mu has been a diligent and hardworking student his whole life. He attended Lakewood before he enrolled into the gifted and talented program at Cold Spring for fourth and fifth grade. Mu then went to Takoma Park Middle School where he took part in their magnet program. Now, Mu is looking to become the first SMOB ever to come out of Wootton.

Mu has had his eyes on the SMOB position for a while. “I started thinking about running for SMOB back in eighth grade when I met Matt Post, the SMOB at the time. He motivated me in a way that no other student advocate or student leader had ever been able to do in the past, changing my views on how much of an impact a single student could make on their school, community, and beyond.” Mu said.

The SMOB candidate has to manage his time well with his campaigning, rigorous schedule, and multiple in-school activities. “This year, I am taking AP Chemistry and AP US History along with Honors English 10, Honors Spanish 5, Honors Precalculus and SGA,” Mu said.

Mu said that his life has changed drastically since he started running for SMOB. He said that he has to change his schedule dramatically to adjust to the workload that campaigning for SMOB comes with.

James is also a member of the Swim and Dive team, the Science Olympiad, the junior captain of the Debate team, and the incoming president of the Asian American Club.
He said that he does not have a specific strategy to winning the election in April. “I just plan to speak my vision and convey my dreams to the students and voters of MCPS and make sure that they see that I am passionate about the advocacy that I do and will stop at nothing to let the student voice be heard,” Mu said.

If Mu were to win the election he would continue the process that the former SMOBs were fighting for. “My slogan is ‘Keep It Muving’ for a reason,” Mu said.

Mu also thinks that he stacks up well against the other candidates. “The two things that a SMOB candidate really needs to be able to do their job well are experience and knowledge, and I feel that I am very qualified in both aspects,” Mu said.

Students around the school think highly of Mu. “I think James MU would be a fantastic SMOB, I can tell that he is very passionate about his work,” sophomore Max Gracyalny said.