After looking through some of the projects on the Second Year Advocacy Forum I came away with a new sense of our ability as young people to advocate for change in various ways. I read Kara Howard’s project on voter ignorance, Grayson Stallman’s project on the need for both sides of political ideologies in the classroom, and Courtney Dunn’s project on the impact of affordable housing in urban society. Additionally, I also took a peek at various other projects on the forum which I did not comment on. This truly opened my eyes to the various topics that students are passionate about in PSL. Since our first semester was primarily focused on the legal side of things, I felt that the forum was most valuable for stimulating more diverse conversations about policy and theory.
I also liked being able to engage with second years who had similar interests. For instance, I’m very passionate about citizen engagement and participation. Finding students who advocate for similar passions was one of the best parts of the second-year advocacy forum. Especially because this made me view the second years in a new light. Kara was actually my mentor so being able to read her infographic about voter ignorance was a unique experience. Identifying mentors and connections with people who share common passions was super engaging.
Moreover, I was able to find connections between my academic studies and some of the topics I explored. For example, reading Courtney Dunn’s project was very informative because it connected to something I had been studying in one of my public policy courses. I ended up writing a final paper about public housing particularly in Cabrini Green and so reading Courtney’s differing proposals for solutions to the public housing problem was really enlightening. Being able to extend that dialogue outside of my classes, assignments, and finals was very meaningful in terms of challenging my thought processes and further engaging me in these discussions.
Lastly, this forum gave me some ideas for next year’s project. I loved seeing the diversity of thought that people displayed. Some topics were outright political, others more policy solution based, still more focused on personal development and such. Seeing the various topics that sophomores use their background and passion to explore made me really look forward to choosing a topic to explore next year, especially knowing that I’m not boxed in in terms of advocating for anything I truly feel passionate about.