The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Zachary W. during the 2007-2008 League.
SSI Experience Report
This past summer, I had the opportunity to attend two weeks of the Student Statesmanship Institute summer camp in Lansing. This camp takes place on the campus of Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing and allows high school students the opportunity to role-play as legislators and other various occupations. Having already attended SSI for one week during a previous year, I went into my first week this summer with high expectations.
All of those expectations were exceeded. It would be difficult for me to identify two other weeks that have had more impact on my life than the time spent at SSI in 2007. I was challenged in many areas and in many ways.
When I arrived at the beginning of the first week, I had some idea what to expect. I knew it was probably going to be even more fun than the previous year, as returning students can participate in the Senate track. Like the first year House track, this meant that we would role-play for a week as senators, capped off by a final legislative session on Friday in which we would present our bills and vote for legislation from other committees.
I arrived on Sunday afternoon and signed in. I was able to room with some friends I had met the previous summer, and due to the large number of students there that week, we had four people total in our room. They were all fun to be with, and also very intellectual and well read. Our discussions ranged on topics from SSI alumni to the Catholic view of salvation. Some of these discussions were quite rigorous and often lasted well beyond midnight.
Each committee is divided into two caucuses, either red or blue (representing political parties), and I was assigned to my caucus on Monday. One of my roommates happened to be on the opposing caucus. Needless to say, this made for interesting nighttime conversations. After meeting with my new caucus, we examined the bill we would be supporting. It dealt with drug company liability with regard to FDA approval. It would rescind the restriction on suing drug companies over FDA-approved drugs. Due to the fact that we were senators, we could amend several parts of this bill in order to improve it, and we inked a deal with the opposing caucus in which they agreed to support our legislation.
The bill that the opposing caucus was supporting was also very beneficial to Michigan citizens. This bill, if passed, would create a divorce effects program that couples seeking divorce would be required to take. The program would be administered by a non-government entity, and would attempt to dissuade the parties involved from divorce. After several key amendments, we agreed that our caucus would support the bill on Friday.
The typical day at SSI would begin by waking up around 7 a.m. Devotions were at 7:45, followed immediately by breakfast. All the meals at SSI were enjoyable, as we were able to visit and meet new friends over the delicious foods prepared by the college staff. After breakfast, we would move to a teaching session. Caucus meetings and another teaching session would fill the time until lunch. Following the meal, students would have free time and one final teaching session. Evenings consisted of dinner, free time, caucus meetings, and ended with evening chapel service and a special speaker. The chapel services at SSI are unique, and the worship is an awesome experience. It is utterly genuine; there is no half-heartedness, and it is one of the best aspects of being at SSI. The speakers are also a blessing to hear, and I thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Their talks were very challenging spiritually.
Everyone at SSI is given almost four hours of free time per day, and this was spent studying, chatting, playing games, or playing sports. In addition to ping pong and foosball indoors, the campus has a full size volleyball court and a soccer field. On the average evening, one would have the choice of playing soccer, ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, football, chess, as well as various card and board games. The free times allowed us to meet new people and have fun with old friends.
On Friday, we had our major legislative session. We all enjoyed giving our speeches, and our presentation went very well. The legislation from both caucuses on our committee received wide bipartisan support, and both bills were approved by a large majority.
My narrative of the week wouldn't be complete if I didn't include a mention of a particularly striking person that I had the pleasure to meet. His name was Kendall Wingrove, a Senate media manager who gave a lecture on journalism and writing on Monday. I spoke with him afterward, and after getting to know him, he invited me to spend part of Friday with him in and around Lansing meeting several people. I was able to correspond with him over the summer, and he recently agreed to become my mentor in the Ambassador League program. It has been a blessing getting to know him and several of the people he introduced me to while I was in Lansing.
I had originally intended to go only one week, but toward the end of that first week I learned that there was a need for media students for SSI week three. I talked to my parents and they allowed me to go again. As it turned out, I had even more fun this week than I did the first week (if such a thing is possible), and I was able to learn and be challenged a lot more.
The media track was a lot of work, and at one point I stayed up until 4 a.m. writing articles for the SSI publication. The media students published four papers and completed two news broadcasts every week. I focused most of my efforts on the paper, and I spent a great deal of time writing. This experience proved invaluable when it came to writing reports for the Ambassador League.
As a media student, I had the opportunity to network with almost everyone at SSI. I came to know many people, and developed several lasting friendships. The media students are also allowed to participate in more advanced teaching, and we have several field trips we take that are tailored to the media track. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this week, and I plan on doing the media track again in 2008.
It is difficult to summarize two of the most life-changing weeks I've ever experienced into several paragraphs. Suffice to say that I was impacted in a myriad of ways. God used SSI mightily in my life, and I'm sure He also uses it to great ends in the lives of others.
