Month: April 2024

Personal is Political: Reflection

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For my last blog, I thought it would be fitting to recap my first year experience here as a student at Penn State. As I had discussed in early blog posts, Penn State was not my first option as I had my sights set on moving across the country to California to attend UC Santa Barbara. However, as I received my cost of attendance and saw the whopping total for out of state tuition at a UC school, my dreams were quickly crushed. However, I’m extremely grateful (and so is future me that I won’t be $250k in debt) that due to the fact my mom works as a nurse at Penn State Hershey, I receive a significant tuition discount and only have to pay a fraction of the cost to attend here.

Up until my move-in date I was stubborn and swore to my parents that I’d hate it here and transfer by my second year. But after a few weeks, I found myself enjoying State College and all the new friends I had made. In my short career as a college student, I’ve noticed my adoption of a new perspective in the realm of various political areas. First of all, I began to follow policies related to student debt much more closely as it was finally something I am affected by. Increasing my financial literacy and understanding of financial topics was an important task considering I was the one responsible for my finances now, not my parents. Being a college student has taught me to budget more responsibly and not blow through my eRefund in the first semester… Don’t tell FAFSA it ended up at Urban Outfitters on College Ave. However, in the last semester I’ve begun to pay closer attention to rising prices and make more conscious purchases.

Aside from personal finances, I’ve also become more independent in regards to taking initiative for myself when it comes to career planning and academic pursuits. At a huge school like Penn State, it is much different than at my high school where teachers and counselors often held your hand as you searched for potential internships and scholarship programs. That being said however, I sometimes miss the tightness of being a part of a smaller community, but I’m also grateful to be at a University with a large network that provides so many opportunities for students. 

On the topic of Penn State being a large school I’ve noticed that in the last year I’ve had to put myself out there more than before. In high school, I was fairly quiet and never went out of my way to introduce myself to new people, which resulted in me feeling a bit left out at times and stuck in my school work. However, at PSU I realized that I needed to branch out even if it was out of my comfort zone. With practice, it became much easier over the course of the school year, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to meet so many new people.

Overall, as the school year comes to an end I’m on the fence between wanting to go home for the Summer and see my hometown friends, or wishing there is more than a few weeks left of my first year. That being said, after my experience as a freshman, I am more than happy with my decision to attend Penn State, and I can’t wait for my second-year!

Civic Issues: Day in the Life of a Supreme Court Justice

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For my last Civic Issues post, I wanted to take a different route while still keeping my topic relevant to the Supreme Court… A few years back, before I was interested in learning more about the Supreme Court, I had envisioned the court as a group of justices who sat for hours on end every day to listen to the most pressing legal issues and cases our country faced. In reality however, the daily agenda of the court varies across 4 different types of “days.”

( from https://www.scotusblog.com/faqs-announcements-of-orders-and-opinions/)

The scenario discussed in my introduction, describes what the court refers to as an “Argument Day.” An Argument Day begins at 10 AM at the US Supreme Court. The day typically consists of two one-hour oral arguments. In every case, each side’s attorney has up to 30 minutes to present their main arguments to the court. Per Supreme Court procedure, the petitioner (the attorney who filed the appeal) begins, and is then followed by the respondent (the attorney representing the opposing party). Normally, most of these 30 minute arguments and presentations from each attorney are interrupted by questions or challenges by members of the court. After oral arguments have concluded, justices will discuss with one another existing precedent, and other legal reasoning before determining their decisions. After decisions are decided, opinion writing is assigned and opinions will later be released to the public. Argument days are particularly special, as members of the public are welcome to hear these sessions. If you are ever interested in witnessing an oral argument at the Supreme Court, click here to see which cases are on the agenda for a specific day. It’s important to note that argument days are not continuous throughout the entire year. In fact, the court typically takes a recess from late June or early July until the first Monday in October.

On the other hand, non-argument days occur when the court does not hear upon any arguments. While the court is open to the public on non-argument days, justices are in private meeting rooms discussing case matters with law clerks and other justices. To put it simply, non-argument days serve as “work days” for the court, and allows them time to review and schedule future cases, write decisions, and tend to the court’s administrative business.

Non-argument days oftentimes take place on conference days as well. Conference days operate similarly to non-argument days, but the justices are mainly dedicating this time for deliberation with their colleagues. These conferences are closed to the public as justices discuss oral arguments that had taken place earlier in the week. After initial discussions a preliminary vote is taken, but it is subject to change as further arguments and reasoning is made by the justices between one another. Once final decisions are voted upon by the court, the Chief Justice assigns majority, dissenting, and concurring opinions to members of the court. These decisions and their opinions are kept confidential until their scheduled release date. 

The last type of “day” the court experiences is an order list issuance day. An order list issuance day is when (typically Mondays)the court releases an update surrounding the court’s actions on various matters. For example, the matters included in an order list issuance can include: certiorari petitions, motions, and other administrative/procedural issues addressed by the court.

I hope this post provided some insight about the procedure of the Supreme Court. I’m interested in hearing if there are any upcoming cases on the docket for this month’s argument days that sound intriguing to you. Personally, I’m interested in the arguments and decisions for Trump v. United States and seeing how its outcome could affect the election later this year.

sources:

https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/courtatwork.aspx

Personal is Political: My Hometown

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At about 4 years old, my family and I moved to Palmyra (a small town about 5 minutes away from Hershey) since my mom had just accepted an offer to work as a pediatric nurse at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. While I was relatively young when we moved and can’t recall most of the moving process, I remember feeling scared and upset over the fact that I would be moving away from my extended family and my neighbors who were my closest friends.

After a 2-hour drive, the U-Haul finally reached its destination in front of our new home. I can recall how different Palmyra looked from Scranton… There were vast cornfields surrounding the perimeter of my new neighborhood, and I could even see (and smell) the cows outside the farmhouse in the distance. Behind my house was a giant hill, covered in long grass, trees, and an array of wildflowers. Excited by the new landscape of my backyard, I spent nearly all day exploring the area around my new home.

Over the years, however, I noticed that the greenery surrounding me had dwindled. For context, I lived in a housing development, and my house was one of the very first they had built on the block. With time, more houses popped up across the neighborhood until there were no construction lots left. When I was about 9, I was absolutely crushed when I woke up to several bulldozers behind my house, flattening the hill I would go sledding down during the winter. Similarly, I felt incredibly frustrated when the construction crews cleared the trees that concealed the small river where my neighborhood friends and I used to go and play for hours on end.

By the time my brother was born when I was about 11 years old, the neighborhood looked entirely different from when we first moved in. What was once several acres of land scattered with homes here and there, was now a large development with upwards of a hundred homes.

Yet, this rapid construction and loss of nature’s beauty wasn’t just confined to my development. As described previously, there were miles of farmlands and cornfields across Palmyra, and it was always a pretty sight, especially in the summertime when thousands of fireflies would be out at night. However, over recent years, large corporations have decided to buy former farmland and construct monstrous warehouses across the area…

As I’ve only returned home for Thanksgiving, winter, and Spring Break, I’m shocked at how quickly these companies and construction crews have been able to progress on these warehouses. Without a doubt, whenever I am driving home, there is always something new being built, and my hometown looks slightly different than how I last remember it. Furthermore, I’m curious to hear if you have any similar feelings or experiences regarding changes and construction in your hometown.