For my passion blog this semester, I will indeed be sticking to my idea of highlighting either a noteworthy bill in Congress or decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that I feel is interesting each week. I want to describe the legislation/cases in layman’s terms so readers can feel more informed about current happenings within our federal government. As far as the Civic Issues blog, I will be committing to taking a deeper analysis into the immigration crisis plaguing the United States and potential solutions legislators have proposed over the past several decades to alleviate the stress felt by our federal immigration agencies.

How can you change the world at the age of 15? You probably can’t, but at least I thought I could. As I walked past the dignified portraits of past governors and beneath the unexplainable beauty of the State Capitol rotunda, I felt that my voice finally mattered. Although small in stature at the time, my beliefs were immense. On this day, I was to meet with several PA state legislators and members of their staff to be a student advocate for the YMCA. When preparing for this event, I was told to concoct an elevator pitch surrounding one topic that the Y embodies that I was especially passionate about. For me, it was a no-brainer.

A few months prior, I remember sitting in 9th grade U.S. history when my teacher told us that we were going to be doing something a little different that day. She walked around the room and distributed fresh pieces of college-ruled lined paper to everyone in the room. Still puzzled as to what the objective of the activity was, she returned back to her computer and put on a PowerPoint. Thereafter, a simple phrase emboldened on the screen: U.S. Citizenship Test. She let us know that this activity was just for fun and for us to gauge our understanding of basic civics questions. For me, a self-proclaimed American history nerd and one of those weird kids who likes politics, I felt I could have done the test with my eyes closed. As each question would reveal itself on the screen, I felt my mind work like a lightning bolt. I’d look down at my paper and think “wow, that was easy!” However, at this time I began to look around the room. I observed a wide majority of my classmates visibly struggling. The word “amendment” seems foreign to them and parts of the Constitution are some old ancient relic. As we traded papers to grade one another following the end of the exam, it quickly became apparent to me that only a handful of us in the class actually answered enough questions correctly to have hypothetically become citizens.

All of this shocked me. I asked myself, “how can citizens of our own country not know basic facts about our history and heritage?” It frustrated me beyond belief, and it was at this point I developed a passion for increasing civics education in schools. In retrospect, none of my classes in elementary or middle school routinely touched on the field of civics other than my American history courses (which even then did not explain the history of certain foundational components of the United States). I began doing research on the issue and discovered that the annual NAEP Civics Exam showed less than 25% of high school students are proficient in civics. This mind-boggling statistic should be embarrassing for a country with one of the most robust education systems in the world. Most states offer some form of civic classes that students can take, but few mandate it. Civics education healthily promotes the ideals of political activism, community and national service, volunteering, and service-learning. In a democracy actively trying to get citizens to turn out to vote each election cycle, why aren’t we starting at the bottom and giving students the fundamental knowledge to feel informed enough to make meaningful decisions at the polls?

Learning about civic issues and becoming a well-informed citizen dramatically increases the likelihood of students willing to engage with different aspects of their communities. I wish that students across our country could see it through the lens I have always viewed it in, with pride for our heritage and optimism for our ensuing endeavors. As I walked the halls of the Capitol that day and dream of doing so in the future, I realized I would never stop fighting for ensuring that the leaders of tomorrow are given the foundational learning to foster their growth and development as educated American citizens.

“This I Believe” Podcast:

One of the issues I have often focused on in terms of personal advocacy is increasing civics education in public schools. Civics education ranges anywhere from understanding our political system/laws to being actively engaged with issues present within communities. I have done extensive research on the surprisingly few amount of middle and high-school aged students who are unable to identify basic facts about the U.S. Constitution or country as a whole. I recall taking the U.S. citizenship test in a high school course and seeing many of my peers struggle with information I feel it is a right for every American to know. Civics education not only makes students more knowledgable about the structure of government and how it is designed to make our lives better, but it allows students to understand the importance of being an actively engaged member of a community and that their voice matters.

Another belief that I feel I could articulate strongly comes from one of my favorite sayings: “never seek comfort.” This might seem like a contradiction to some, as many view being comfortable as a widely accepted “good thing.” While comfort is certainly desirable, it can not be understated how important it is to not be complacent by becoming too comfortable. You have to place yourself in uncomfortable situations to truly learn and better yourself. I would like to dive into this subject more and give readers a unique perspective in why I think seeking out situations of discomfort can lead to the overall betterment of personal development.

Passion:

A topic I’d really like to cover in my passion blog this semester is something that I believe carries value to both myself and readers. I would like to highlight specific pieces of legislation being proposed or debated in Congress as well as important cases being presented before the U.S. Supreme Court. One of my favorite websites is SCOTUSblog, a blog that addresses every aspect of the high court and what business they are addressing during each term. It would be my personal choice whether to highlight a bill or choose a case to talk about each week, but I could possibly find a way to incorporate both into each post. My goal would be to describe what is going on with that respective item in layman’s terms to provide clarity to my audience. Going below the surface level of these things is something very interesting, and I’d hope to capture the interest of my peers who would like to become more informed about some of the inner-workings of our government.

Similar to an idea I proposed for my blog last semester, another option would be composing a sort of “Penn State” blog. Last semester I proposed the idea of highlighting notable events on campus each week, but I’d like to amend that to discussing interesting pieces of Penn State history that many students find themselves unfamiliar with. This university is rich with history and tradition and I think it is paramount for the current student body and those that follow to understand the importance of those who came before them.

Civic Issues:

An area of public policy that I have always taken particular interest in is immigration policy. Immigration policy is something has been relevant since the days of our nation’s founding and will continue to be one of the top agenda items on the minds of legislators for centuries to come. The complexity of our immigration system and headaches it has caused both the immigrants themselves and government agencies/official is an important thing to discuss so we know how to improve. Looking at other immigration systems around the world and how they either succeed or flounder is a consideration that should very well be implemented when amending our current system. The system could work better for us all, and I’d be very interested in doing further research on how it can be improved and how current events are influencing the extent to which legislators are willing to amend its means.

Alternatively, another civic issue I could further elaborate upon is the effect of our institutions on democracy. In a representative democracy like the one in which we live, what institutions influence the way we think or view our government? I would look at the ways these systems either encourage or discourage things like civic engagement and bipartisanship and do a diagnostic assessment of where democracy stands in the United States in 2023.