Thrill-Seeking for Nerds (who want to change the world)

I'd like to introduce to you one of my favorite bills of 2021 so far: the THRIVE agenda resolution . We'll get to what's in it in a second, but by the name alone I'm already hooked: this is an agenda to Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy (THRIVE). We Model UN nerds and political advocates love a good acronym! Put together by leaders in the movements for environmental justice, Indigenous rights and sovereignty, and racial justice, this resolution outlines a plan for recovery that would be the first step towards our country’s healing, and part one of the decade of the Green New Deal. Making signs for Earth Day 2020 "10 years to act" is catchy, but January-April 2021 is crucial for setting the pace, so don't get comfortable! It's go time. This resolution, first introduced to Congress in September 2020 , centers on 8 pillars , including creating millions of good, safe union jobs and averting climate catastrophe. Ok, so why do we ...

What if we could reach a wide audience of fellow constituents and our members of Congress at the same time? Guess what? We can, by writing a short piece for the opinion section of a newspaper called a Letter to the Editor (LTE)! Usually 150-250 words in length, a LTE is another powerful advocacy tool. If you aren’t familiar with what these look like, here are a couple examples I've written about for global health. Lawmakers should help fight a tuberculosis resurgence (September 12, 2022) The Global Fight to End AIDS  (December 7, 2018) See? Pretty short and to the point. Nothing fancy about it, but more credibility and room to develop your ideas than you'd get with a Tweet. LTEs are short enough that you can keep a couple favorites on a cork board Some everyday people will read your letter, though it may not be our peers at school. (There's one teacher at my school who sees my letters in the paper sometimes and talks to me about them, but overall I get the sense that most...

I wanted to write something about the pros and cons of using social media to engage in the political process. Not least because our very own President of the United States was banned from Twitter following an attempted coup he (and others) incited, an insurrection fueled by propaganda and misinformation that algorithms designed to maximize profit amplified. The thing is, I've only had Instagram since, like, March 2020. Not even a year. Even if I were the most active influencer on the planet, I still couldn't present myself as having any credibility on the topic because my experience on social media is shaped by my age, gender, race, class background, school culture, political beliefs, and more. So, I called for backup and put it up on my Instagram story.   Among the "pros" of social media: “It makes action/resources more accessible” True! You don't have to go through a lot of other websites or attend webinars to find out what your options are for action items. “Sp...