Throughout my time as a Civic Fellow, I was involved in various activities that aimed to address pressing social issues and foster civic engagement amongst my peers. We had many excellent speakers who were experts in their fields. This experience added to my knowledge of civic engagement and what my future may look like working in government and handling economics. We delve into several ways to stay informed to better grasp the political atmosphere. Most of all we learned about how we can be most effective in making changes to address problems on the local level.
My college experience was eye opening. I got to to eat in the college cafe and stay in the dorms for a week . Each day there was something new to do and experience on school grounds amongst students, staff, and professors. I felt as if was going to be here for my actual undergrad.
Exploring the beauty of St. Petersburg while studying at USFSP showed me the vibrant culture, stunning waterfront views, and welcoming mural art. Residents here favor the environment and animals here a lot and everything is mostly environmentally friendly.
Learning experiences and education
The class and I dove into parts of the constitution and the foundation of the federal/state laws and amendments.
I got to understand the intricacies of policy-making.
We collectively explored how local government structure and branches operate.
We investigated key issues facing Florida and understood the impact of research.
CIvic Fellows Q & A
Former Senator Jeff Brandes
Commissioner Charlie Justice
Veteran Steven Brown
School Board Member Caprice Edmond
and many more speakers
During the week we toured the Dali Museum. We took a nice walk on the boardwalk. My favorite time was at the beach and getting free ice cream and looking at some shops on the pier. We ate lunch at city hall at one point and got to see a look around.
Civic Fellows supplied us with a lot of merch. The program gave us materials to be fully immersed with a schedule, t-shirt, notepad, and other materials for the topics. The places offered us gift bags. And most of the speakers had business cards so that we can follow up and further contact them!
At Civic Fellows I learned about a plethora of things. We discussed campaigns and how to be more civically involved. We learned about media literacy and how information is communicated. We talked about how a bill gets passed and the obstacles politicians face while in office. We learned about how to advocate and stand up for issues we believe in. Got to understand different levels of government and how they work cohesively. Lots of the speaker sessions talked about how to get started in government and the types of opportunities there are like lobbying or being a district aid. There will be many learning opportunities.