I know it may seem surprising to people, but learning dialog that has a conversational flow to it is not that difficult.
I was a busy kid in high school - a little bit of an overachiever, I guess. Prom king was kind of silly, but the rest of the stuff was important to me.
People desire power. I don't know why they want it so. It seems to me it implies a hugely superior intellect which separates them from most of the populace.