I Want My Environment to Be a Product of Me

Hello readers!

Because this is my first post I'll take a few lines to explain to you potential Washington Semester Students who I am and what I'm about.

In the post following this, I'll explain the process I went through in deciding to attend the program and how I applied and was accepted.

Note: The Picture is from Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street informally known as "Black Broadway" because it is predominantly African American neighborhood. Many jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Nat King Cole, would stop by the restaurant when they performed at U Street clubs. The sticker denotes the seat which Obama sat in while he ate his first meal in D.C.

Since I was a tiny little kid I've loved a few things: cereal, music and politics. When I was really young it came out as my interest in acting and public speaking. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer until I realized what I loved about the idea of being a lawyer was politics. The idea of persuading people and influencing the world around you. Like Jack Nicholson says in The Departed, "I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me!" That about sums up why I'm passionate about politics, because it's one of the few fields where that statement can be made true.

The Public School Years

So... I went through public school always running for office if I could. I loved the idea of legislating... I should correct that; more than the idea of legislating, I loved actually legislating. That, however, wasn't proven to me until college, but we'll get there in a second. One of my proudest moments in high school was as president of student council. I proposed a bill with a rider that did exactly what riders are supposed to do. The rider was unpopular with the advisors of our council because it removed a significant amount of their ability to override votes which didn't break any laws, rules, regulations etc. but simply were not liked by them. The bill itself was very popular and extended accessibility of the council to the rest of the student body. Therefore, it passed overwhelmingly.

I don't mean to sound like I'm sneaky, but that's what politics is... not sneaky but smart. You have to be smart and be aware of the circumstances you're in and what rules do and do not bind you. Other than compromise, finding loopholes is a huge part of getting things done when you're facing heavy opposition.

The College Years


Let's be honest. We were all ready to leave high school and move a step closer to the real world, and I was absolutely no exception. I love my friends from high school but the environment itself not conducive to... well anything really.

Just for reference, and as a "hello" (I refuse to use the phase shout-out) to all those of you from New England and specifically Massachusetts and New Hampshire, I grew up in New Hampshire and I now attend Clark University in Worcester (pronounced Wooster but don't go overboard on the "woo" part), Massachusetts. We, as a school, are best known for our Psychology and Political Science Departments as well as Biology. The first place a rat was put in a maze was at Clark and it's the only place Freud visited when he came to the United States. We have also produced the creator of Panera Bread, Blue Man Group, the birth control pill, and that guy who made the "shoes" video that went viral. The first official noise complaint in Worcester was filed against Robert Goddard, the father of rocketry, for launching a rocket from Clark (we named our Library after him) which found its way into a nearby roof.

Once I got to college I got involved with a bunch of groups. Among others things, I hosted a radio show, co-founded a chapter of Oxfam America, helped my friend start the Clark University Historical Society, dabbled in the debate society and the list goes on. I also ran for "First Year Class Representative" which you could compare to a Senatorial seat. I was representing the Freshman class on Student Council which is, by the way, the only University Student Council in the country to have a separate Judiciary body (as far as I know... don't quote me... or argue with me).

To clarify what I said earlier about legislating. If you've ever watch CSPAN, you know what it's like on the floor of the House and Senate. A lot of formality, process and seemingly wasted time. As the saying goes, there are two things you don't want to see being made, sausage and legislation. That being said, I actually do enjoy the process of debate and the rules that go along with Parliamentary Procedure. Case in point: The majority of Student Council meetings were more than 2 hours with some running as long as 5, and I loved every minute of it!

I really got my political break this past summer though. I was interning at the ACLUM (The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts). The director of the county got me involved in cases dealing with prison inmates (I almost met a con-man), sex offenders, and generally the population who feel as if their rights have been violated in some way and are coming to the organization for help.

He decided, somewhere around June, that he was going to run for State Representative for Worcester District 13 and much to my surprise/humility he asked me to be his campaign manager and I accepted. We got to work right away forming an image, reaching out for fundraising, buying signs, getting him in the media, getting him a place at public events for visibility and other things you'd expect as part of a campaign. If there's one thing I learned from this campaign about the order in which to do things for a modern campaign (other than forming the committee, opening a political bank account and getting together a campaign team) it's this: don't print any other media before you have a website. We ran into trouble by getting over excited and sending out some direct mail before we had a website to include on the envelopes. Now that whole group has lost out on the opportunity to check out our website without us reaching them in some other way and communicating the fact that there is a website!

So, to end this post I feel as if I should offer a little fine print about the post which are to come just following this one. I didn't start posting at the same time as the other bloggers for this program but I've been here at the program just as long. This means I have a little catching up to do and you'll see a plethora of posts for a bit and then once I'm caught up to the present time, things will level off.

Thanks for reading! See you next time!