The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Katie P. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Tactics - SSI Experience Report
Over the summer of 2008, I attended the second week of the SSI program in Lansing Michigan. As a first year student, I was in the House of Representatives. It was an incredible learning experience for me. It took everything that I had been taught about government for the past twelve years, and gave me a hands-on learning experience. I know that I learned more in my one week of SSI then I have through my entire school career.
On the first night, I was assigned to the Jefferson committee, Blue caucus. At our first meeting, I was chosen to be our caucus moderator. We were in support of the "Legal Birth Definition Act" which defined birth as the point where any portion of the baby was delivered outside its mother's body.
In seventh or eighth grade, I did a short, one semester study on government and how it worked. It never really peeked any interest, or to be honest, any understanding. So when I attended SSI, I didn't really know much about Michigan Government, or what I was expected to do, except give a speech at the end of the week. To my immense relief, I caught on quickly and was able to follow most of what happened throughout the week. What I didn't understand was usually explained to me when I asked.
My caucus and I researched and studied our bill and everything that surrounded it. Anything that might remotely help us was noted and saved for a time when it might be helpful. We prepared our short statements for the press conference on Wednesday, and to my horror, I was chosen to open the conference for our caucus.
By Wednesday morning, I thought I was prepared for the conference. I was wrong. Nothing could have prepared me for the fifteen to twenty people sitting in the Cafeteria. I opened with a brief statement about what our bill was going to accomplish, so nervous I thought I would fall over. The other members of our caucus followed with more specific statements and then we answered questions from the press. All our careful research and planning hadn't covered half of the questions that were thrown at us. Luckily we had more than one member that was quick on their feet. We thought we did awful, but the following day, we received a good review in the paper.
The next task we had to accomplish was the committee meeting. Once again, I had no idea what I was going to have to do. But once we got started, and the chairman explained the process, our whole caucus immediately got completely into it. I took more notes then I had paper for, and got a large portion of the information I used in my speech from the lobbyists and opposing caucus. In the end, the chairman voted in favor of our caucus both time. Unfortunately, he had to change his vote on our opposing bill, so it was allowed to move to the House floor.
After the committee meeting, we started work on our speeches. By Thursday night, I thought my head was going to explode. I spent the greater part of Thursday night staring at a blank wall in my room, trying to remember what I had intended to put into my speech. Of course I finished in time to run it past other members of my caucus the following morning. Friday, my caucus took both our supporting and opposing bills.
I never had any interest in government or politics before attending SSI. At home I had learned how they all worked, but I didn't really understand. In the one week I spent at SSI, I reviewed almost everything I learned and was able to either watch, or personally put it into practice. I came home with a much greater interest in government, as well as an infinitely better understanding of the House of Representatives.
