Greater Together Youth Summit

Campus Team Watch Party

Screen shot of panel

We somewhat successfully watched the Greater Together Youth Summit. The summit was held at UF and our little group watched it live at USFSP on my  computer. We had some technical difficulties but rather than break up our watch party we decided to improvise and use my computer. The summit was interesting and very informative, David Axelrod spoke of what the president is doing to help students and better our country.

Barack the Vote!!!

Getting Organized.

Writing down information.

Setting up.

Barack the Vote!

Jessica is in!

Getting the word out!

Silly pictures.

More silly pictures. 

Above are some pictures from our Barack the Vote College Social event. We had a lot of people come in and ask us how they can volunteer. Our event was organized by Merida Lloyd, she wanted to rally some college students and build a small team.

The event went very well, as stated before we had about twenty-two and counting people sign in the volunteer.  I was excited to see that our college outreach is getting a good response. Students from Eckerd College, St. Pete College, and USFSP were contacted and asked to join our college social. The atmosphere was very casual we were all sitting around eating and talking about the up and coming presidential race. I think it is important to get young people out to vote since our age group has the lowest voting turn out.  A couple of people were registered to vote and I hope our next event is even more successful.

Tallahassee!

Jessica and I before
the six hour car ride. 

Frank and I pretending to argue in the old capitol.  

Silly Picture!

Having Dinner with Jessica Leigh
at a USF Alumni function.

First stop on our tour of the capital.
Visiting Florida Representative Rick Kriseman.

Our group in the Senate Chamber. 

Behind the podium in the Senate Chamber.

                                     

Photo taken by Thomas Boyd at the old capitol. 

                           

Our silly picture in front of the old capitol. 

                                                                             

                                                                                         The House during session.

The pictures above are just a few of the many pictures I took during my trip to Tallahassee. Senator Charlie Justice came into our classroom and informed us about the retreat to the capitol and encouraged us all to apply. The trip was sponsored by Lead Learn Serve a campus organization devoted to showing students different types of leadership. The  I couldn't believe I was chosen to go after I applied late and thought I was not going to land the spot but luck was on my side and I am glad I did. The six hour car ride was long but the passengers were very entertaining. During the trip we had one rule for food, "No eating a chains only local restaurants." Our group consisted of Senator Charlie Justice our chaperone and tour guide. Ally, Alex, Jessica, myself, Ralph, Thomas, Frank and Michael.

We began our tour of the capitol with visiting Representative Rick Kriseman a member of the Democratic party which is currently the minority party. Rick was very honest in explaining how hard it is to get a bill past when you are part f the minority. Charlie Justice a former senator and also part of the minority said "I've had bills rejected one year when it was my name on the bill but pass the next when a Republican co-authored." The simple statement shows just how party dominated our government is. Some officials would rather vote against a bill because a member of the opposite party proposed it, rather than pass a bill that will benefit the state. Not all officials are like this but everyone we talked to informed us that this  is what is currently happening in our government.

We also talked to some members that work with the cabinet. They encouraged us to look for internships even if we do not have an interest in politics. Honestly I would love intern at the capitol because it would give me some really good experience as to what goes on behind the scenes but I know I can never be a politician. I would rather work on things behind the curtain rather than hold an office. Lucy Morgan a member of the press convinced me of that. She was very cynical about our current government but encouraged us to bring some change into the system.

As a learning experience we sat in on a committee meeting, that was boring; honestly everyone in that room was bored. I expected people to be alert and listening to the bills, instead what I found was a numerous amount of iPads. The two women sitting in front f me were on Facebook talking about a picture.  This experience reminded me of class where the professor is lecturing while some students are on Facebook or surfing the web.

Senator Mike Fasano talked to us about redistricting. The district maps must be approved by a certain date so congress had to convene early to ensure the maps are approved. Since the elections are coming up for everything certain precautions have been set to protect against gerrymandering, but that doesn't stop it from happening. He also advised us not to be impressed when a member of congress says they have balanced the budget because states are mandated to balance the budget or they are reprimanded.

The Senate Chamber was my favorite part of the capitol tour. Mr. Young the bill reader explained to us how the state senate works and we were able to debate a mock bill. Since the buzz around the capitol was about the budget cuts for public colleges that will affect USF more than any other college. According to many the bottom line for the reason for the budget cuts was because USF refused to make PolyTech its own school. Many officials were upset about how the students from Tampa were treated and assured us that they will be fighting this bill. Mr. Young gave us a bill about increasing student tuition as an investment of education. I enjoyed questing the author of the bill and voting. Everything done in the Senate Chamber is formal the polar opposite of the House.

As you can see from the video above, when the House is in session it is chaos. People are walking around, talking to each other, barely even listening to the bills they are voting on. Our group even caught one representative voting for five people at once which is not allowed. The house was entertaining to watch.

Our group also toured the old capitol. It was nice to see the history and we were able to act silly. On Friday our last day in Tallahassee we toured the governor's mansion. The mansion is beautiful with a beautiful dinning room and opening sitting area.

All in all it was a great trip and I hope to return to the capitol soon hopefully as an intern.

Week Update

I have been interning all week and am learning a lot. I performed some calls on monday, but I mostly greeted walk-ins. The number of walk-ins is astonishing. We have people coming in everyday at all hours of operation ready to schedule one-on-ones   and sign up for volunteering opportunities.

The atmosphere around the office is infectious, everyone is working very hard on the campaign and we are gaining new enthusiastic volunteers.  One such volunteer is Vilma N. Fry,  she is going to be a spring fellow and has already worked on a presidential campaign.

Wilma worked on Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign and had many stories to share. I was very excited to meet someone who has already gone through this experience and was eager to ask questions. Wilma was able to head Clinton's press core for one of his many debates in New York and she even attended one of his fundraisers.

Along with phone banking I have also been given the task of data input. If data is not added into the system then it didn't happen. According to Victoria "You can hold an event with 60 people and if those 60 people are not written down and added to the system it's as if it didn't happen." I can add data very quickly making me the data master.

I was also given the task to making sign up sheets for our events and to hang them on the wall. It sounds childish but I was excited to make posters and be creative. Many of our volunteers are coming up with ideas to decorate our office to make it more inviting. The photo above is of a poster made by Wilma; allowing everyone who walks into our office to write why they support Obama.

State of the Union

Though I am sadly not at a State of the Union watch party I am watching from my dorm room. Obama's speech is truly inspiring, his ideas of our country in my opinion are exactly what America is looking for. As a college student I would love a decrease interest rates on student loans and see an increase in funding towards Pell Grants. With these changes a numerous amount of people can go to college and give America a fighting chance against the rest of the world.

Obama's last three years in office have helped us increase the creation of jobs and decrease our ever growing debt. Under the care of Obama our economy can grow and we can once again be what many believe America to be; "A city upon a hill." We need to find a way to move away from petroleum and move towards a "green" America using alternative energy resources.

Hearing the State of the Union makes be feel as if I have chosen the right campaign to support. I am proud to be working for Obama's reelection campaign and hope that my contribution will make a difference.

Getting down to business.

Day two of interring and I am learning quite a bit. As you can see from the picture to your left, our new office is almost ready. A few of the other volunteers have placed decorations while I was put in charge of organizing; office supplies, signs and paperwork.

All the volunteers were thrilled to see how well our office is coming together. Walking in today I was amazed at how different our office looked since Thursday the first time I walked in. We had more room to set up phone banks and to fit more volunteers.

I was once again placed on the biggest aspect of a political campaign; phone banks. Today instead of asking people their opinion I was told to contact and recruit them as fellow volunteers. From the many calls made today less than half picked up the phone, but those who did jumped at the chance of getting more information on how to proceed with volunteering. Numerous amount of people are signing up to help us take this campaign to new heights.

The enthusiasm that people gave off the phone was infectious. The soon to be volunteers were so open and ready to get down to business.  Tomorrow I will be returning to gain even more experience on what exactly goes on during a political campaign.

Phones, Phones, Phones

   Today I started working on Obama's political campaign for the 2012 presidential election. I was extremely nervous and didn't really know what to expect walking into the office. My supervisors Victoria and Bernadette were very welcoming.

My first task was working the phone banks, one of the biggest parts of any political campaign. I was given a username, a phone and got to work making calls.

My first call was nerve-wrecking and I stuttered my way through it but as luck would have it, the person I spoke to was very nice and a whole hearted Obama supporter. My second call didn't go as well; that person didn't really like being called to talk about their politics or Obama for that matter. Either way it was a great experience.

I expected a scene much like one from the film "Definitely, Maybe," where Ryan Reynolds' character is sitting at a desk making calls and searching supporters. Everyone in the office appeared disheveled and bored. My experience was a lot more fun; we only had one desk five mobile phones and cheered every time someone was able to get a reaction out of a potential voter. We even had an Obama-meter where each of us would add a line and fill it in, marking our progress.

My first day on the job was great, everyone was nice and as dull as it may sound, mining the phone banks aren't that bad, it was actually a fun task to do and I look forward to helping the campaign as much as I can.