Newsroom Archive for 07/25, 2009

High School Leaders Program Class of 2009
Day 14— Friday, July 24
Reported by: Ben Swanson, Vienna

     After a week of 7:30 AM wake ups, 8 hour classes, and a budget game that almost drove us apart, we got to sleep in. Wake up time?  9 AM! But the extra sleep was not the highlight of the morning; today was the grand finale of our Sorensen experience.  At about 10 AM the thirty of us trudged across the lawn, ready to persuade a panel of judges that our policies were the best options that the government had in terms of fixing-up our dear commonwealth.  It may have been the effort we put into our papers, the hours we had spent in the library, or the classy business professional attire we wore into the Rotunda; whatever it was, it worked.  We sailed through the presentations in about two hours and with a sigh of relief, we trudged onward to the classroom for our very last round of speakers.
     After a quick lunch of Chick-Fil-A, we met with Steven Jones, a graduate of Longwood University and the executive director of Virginia 21.  After telling us a couple of anecdotes about his experiences with Sorensen, he got down to business and explained what Virginia 21 was.  Essentially, Virginia 21 is a student organization that encourages the young generation to become informed about the issues that are influencing the way we live our lives.  They are a partisan-neutral "action tank" that gets students the facts and turns regular voters into active citizens.  With branches all over the state in Universities and Community Colleges, Virginia 21 is "acting today to shape tomorrow".
     Next we met with Dave Norris, the mayor of Charlottesville.  He gave us a new perspective on how the local community is effected by policy enacted on the local level of government.  People tend to overlook the local government, he explained, and it's a good voter turnout even if only 25% of the electorate turns out on election day to help elect local officials.  He seemed like a great guy and I truly wish him luck as he runs for re-election in the near future.
     The rest of the day consisted of our traditional game of Ultimate Disc on the lawn.  It was a huge turnout, and I even got to play with some people that I hadn't had the chance to interact with very much during the last two weeks.
     I've just realized that this is the last newsroom blog that will be written for our HSLP class 2009.  I've got to make this a good wrap-up, but I'm kind of scared that I won't be able to put into words what I really think about the last two weeks.  They have been amazing.  Pulling into Bice Hall in my mom's car, I was curious about the kind of people I would meet and the kind of memories I would take away from this program.  But after the first two days, I knew it would be two of the best weeks of my life.  I have taken advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime and I will be proud to wear my Sorensen pin around whenever I throw on my suit.  Aside from the political side of this program I have made some incredible friends, run harder for a frisbee than I ever did for my school bus, laughed harder than I did all year, and walked down to the UVa Corner just to grab some Ice cream and feel Charlottesville. I tried to think of things to criticize when I filled out my end of the program survey, but I came up with nothing.  This has been an incredible ride and I know everyone is going to miss this place as much as I already do.

—Ben Swanson, Vienna

Today in Charlottesville in the historic Dome Room of the University of Virginia Rotunda, the High School Leaders Program Class of 2009 celebrates its graduation from the Sorensen Institute. Congratulations!