The rainy weather this weekend left my job at a food truck relatively customer-less. Which lead to my coworker making the mistake of asking me about my week. I got to give him a synopsis of what seemed to him to be chaos, but is my constant since announcing my campaign as a college student. So let’s review a little!
For starters, I have been selected as one of the Hayes School of Music Scholarship recipients to perform for the donors who make the funding for our education possible. I will be playing a solo unaccompanied bassoon piece in the fall, and will take part in a wind quintet playing the Suite by Robert Washburn in the spring.
As seen in the cover photo, this week has been filled with rehearsals for my other ensembles too. I am trying to get better at grabbing some clips of those rehearsals for these diaries. So here are some short clips from my bassoon ensemble!
The Muppets!
The Thunderer
I will work on some clips from larger ensembles as they become available to me, our symphony band this semester has a lot of fun stuff coming!
Our debate team has begun weekly individuals meetings (which I help facilitate to work on articulation and speech), as well as team meetings and practice rounds. Our first tournament should be taking place in NY pending school approval and I could not be more excited for that trip!
In the past week since being written about in the local newspaper and the article being posted online, momentum has picked up for me on the campaign front as well!
I have been invited to be a guest on a podcast run by some guys in VA, and I was reached out to by a local news station to run a story on my candidacy in VA98 and the historical age precedent I have set. This gives me hope that more gen z members of my community can realize how easy it is to put their feet in the water of politics, campaigning, and advocacy. I intend to be as accessible as possible to voters with limited experience or knowledge in the process, and I want to work with organizations geared towards registering as many eligible high schoolers to vote as we can.
After reviewing these happening in addition to my coursework with my coworker, we talked about how I’ve shattered the norm of both students in higher ed, and traditional candidates for state assembly. I am glad to do so, but to be candid I’ve grown a new concern, why is my situation so unique? Where does this divide come from when we are following all the rules, and are willing and able to represent our communities that have raised us? I don’t know, but I know that growing number of candidates under 30 are creating a new wave and movement.
If you are looking to help support this movement, or just want to keep an eye on how things are going. I have provided the links to help you do so. I can assure it will be a wild ride as we move into 2023.