BLINN STUDENTS RECOGNIZED AT POLITICAL WORKSHOP
With a little sleep and a lot of hard work, five Blinn College students proved they have what it takes to succeed in politics.
Michael Carroll, Yu-Lin “Jonah” Chen, Natalie Escalante, Sierra Nilsson and Delayne Smith competed in the 2015 New Politics Forum Campaign Bootcamp, a three-day nonpartisan training that introduces young people to running a political campaign.
The New Politics Forum, established in 2003 at the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas at Austin, engages young adults in the political process and inspires them to take leadership roles in their communities.
As the only two-year college representatives at the workshop, Blinn students were randomly grouped with students from more than 12 four-year universities. Each group was assigned a political candidate and was guided by political professionals on the basics of campaign management, fundraising, budgeting, volunteer coordination and messaging. By the third day of the forum, each group was expected to make a campaign presentation before a bipartisan panel of political mentors.
“This is the real deal,” said Gilbert Schorlemmer, social sciences instructor. “Students get fully immersed in the political process. It empowers them and teaches them that the only real secret to politics is being involved.”
The students were inspired to participate in the workshop outside of their regular coursework while taking Schorlemmer’s government class, which involves a semester-long group campaign project similar to that at the New Politics Forum.
“Students learn that you don’t have to demonize the other side of an argument to make your side heard,” Schorlemmer said. “We can all work together and produce quality results, even when we don’t agree.”
Smith, a second-year Blinn TEAM (Transfer Enrollment at A&M) student, was part of a team that earned “Best Field Strategy” for its get-out-the-vote strategy, which involved social media and engaged young and minority voters. Awards were also given to the group with the top overall campaign and the best communication strategy, budget procedure and fundraising plan.
“The boot camp really simulated the campaign work environment,” Smith said. “It’s not what I expected—it was much more intense. I learned that nothing stays the same during a campaign. You’re always having to adjust your strategy and keep up-to-date with what your opponents are doing.”
Carroll, a Blinn alum who recently transferred to Texas A&M, was praised for his campaign yard sign throughout the boot camp by Cliff Walker, political director of Battleground Texas; Matt Glazer, executive director of the Austin Young Chamber of Commerce and Luke Marchant, director of Mammoth Marketing Group. According to Schorlemmer, the sign stood out among the rest for its sharp layout and overall appeal.
“I definitely felt honored,” Carroll said. “It was creative for me, and something I enjoyed doing, but I wasn’t expecting the attention I got. I enjoyed the entire experience and feel like Mr. Schorlemmer’s class prepared me for it. He’s an amazing teacher and my career aspirations would be much different had I not taken his class.”
Registration is currently available for Blinn’s Summer II and Fall semesters. For registration and financial aid information, visit: www.blinn.edu.
