HSLP 2009: Day 10, July 20

High School Leaders Program Class of 2009
Day 10— Monday, July 20
Reported by: Megi Hakobjanyan, Mechanicsville

     My alarm went off at 7:30am. Catherine and I completely ignored it. See after a long, relaxed and fun weekend, it is very hard to wake up at 7:30 especially since Brea Thomas with her marvelous voice did not let us sleep till 2am. Anyways, we made it out of the bed, got dressed, had breakfast and we were out of the doors by 8:30.
       Our schedule said that we had class lecture from 9am till 12pm. Of course everybody’s first reaction was “Oh dear Lord…” But professor Steve Bragaw managed to keep us engaged and interested the whole three hours of the class. Personally I enjoy his classes very much. It is so interesting. We talk about things that you think you already know about, but when he asks us questions you really realize how much you don’t know and how much you are actually learning here. It is a weird feeling to explain. That feeling that you are getting so much smarter in those three hours.
     For example, today we were talking about policy making. I have already learned about policy making in my high school government class, but today I got to learn about it in a complete different way. Today I got to learn about the thinking that goes into policy making. It is not just set steps that you do to create a policy. There is a philosophical thinking that goes into each step. Then from policy making we started to talk about equality. That was when the professor brought in two delicious looking and tasting brownie pans with fresh brownies and gave us the simplest directions. “Split the two pans of brownies amongst yourselves.”  It took us 10 minutes, but afterwards everyone was happily eating a fair share of their brownie. Then the discussion changed to equity, efficiency, security and liberty. Again, I thought I knew about all of those words, but today all of us got to know the deep meaning behind these words and their connections to our every-day decision-making process.
     After a nice lunch, we all returned to the class room and met with Charlottesville Chief of Police Tim Longo. He was probably the funniest and at the same time the most touching speaker we had. He changed the way I viewed the police department in general. I never knew that policemen try so hard to open communication lines with all of the citizens, and gain their trust. I think we were all amazed by the amount of passion that Chief Longo put in his work, and the amount of dedication he had to reach every member of his community.
     If you ever want to get involved in a political campaign and be politically active, Michael Snook is the person to go to for advice. He has been politically active most of his life, and he shared with us the steps you can take to be effective in someone’s campaign. Of course the best way is to go door to door, which is not very pleasant, but always effective.
            As rain was pouring down outside, Karen Kobler, our next speaker rushed to the classroom. Our topic was fundraising— or in other words, the most essential part of political campaigns. Karen Kobler was very entertaining and fun. We learned how little tactics and moves can get you a long way and help you raise any amount of money you want. It is very simple. You find the cause you want to fundraise for; you find the people who you are going to talk to; find the most personal way to reach those people; you ask for the specific amount; and last but not least, you thank them no matter what. Very simple lesson, but probably one of the most valuable ones.
     So this was the second Monday of Sorensen. As the days are going by, we all can not believe how fast the time is moving. I guess, it is true, that time flies when you are having fun.

—Megi Hakobjanyan, Mechanicsville