After a long break, I’m glad to be back on the first day of classes. Even though it was a big pain in the but the past couple weeks, the snow on this campus is beautiful. I’m not usually one into aesthetics, either. This semester and year of 2009 are going to be huge for me. Hopefully, it’ll be full of good news. Just to give you a glimpse into one aspect of my spring 2009 semester, here are the courses that I’m taking.

• Modern Political Theory: A required course for the major where we explore the foundations of current political thought
• Public Administration and Public Policy: A cool course in which we simulate hearings in Congress for part of it
• Social Welfare Policy: This is a new course where we’ll gain some grounding in welfare, education, and healthcare policy
• Public Finance: We’ve got to pay for all of the government spending somehow, right? I’ll learn more about how it’s done
• Philosophy of Law: As a potential aspiring lawyer, I really want to understand how theory influences what goes on in our courts

It’s a pretty heavy load, but I managed well in the fall. I hope that I repeat!

It goes without saying, but yesterday was one of the greatest in American history. Though I didn’t join the viewing celebration here at Wheaton (I was in Providence at an event hosted by the RI Attorney General), I felt the buzz when I returned. It truly is a new day. I had a quick phone interview with the Attleboro Sun Chronicle and here’s what I said:

Patterson added that the only tangible gain from Obama’s election may be that young black children can see with their own eyes that a person of color can reach the highest office, an idea echoed by Wheaton College junior Gabe Amo.
“When I was younger, I always said I wanted to be president,” Amo said. “And that was with the  understanding that I’d be the first black president.”
“Now, if I still have that dream, I wouldn’t carry that burden,” he said. “I know that America would be accepting.”
Amo said watching Obama’s inauguration was exciting because he knew he was watching something that would go down in American history. “The collective understanding of what a special moment this is made it even better,” he said.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2009/01/21/election_coverage/4277228.txt

Now it’s time for me to gain the skills so that I can make my own history!

Peace,

Gabe

In news that may surprise you about college, most of the Wheaton students that I know LOVE their classes. As an upperclassmen who has filled most of their distribution requirements, a student here can really delve into their major or explore the wide range of courses available at Wheaton. This semester, I’m focused on understanding my academic interests around social policies, race, and of course politics. Here’s a run down of the courses and a bit of information on what I’m taking this semester:

• Economics of Race and Racism: In this course, Professor Russell Williams talks about how we can’t understand markets like housing, employment, and education without knowledge about a major pre-market factor — race.
• Media and Politics: In this course taught by a Wheaton institution, Professor Jay Goodman, we analyze the commercials, debates, and websites of the 2008 Presidential Election. My assignment was Vice-President-elect Joe Biden’s performance in his debate against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — gotta love the talk about Joe Six-pack.
• Constitutional Law II: Civil Rights: As a aspiring lawyer, this class is a great opportunity to think and discuss major Constitutional issues. Each class, a group presents an oral argument for both sides of a major Supreme Court case.
• African-American Politics: This course taught by Professor Marcus Allen is a student led discussion based course where we try to answer some really provocative questions. In light of Barack Obama’s ascendency to the presidency, I’ve developed a real bond with my class as we challenge ourselves to understand the America of today.
• International Politics: In this course, we analyze the components of international relations and the worldview that global actors possess. It’s really interesting to see what ideas go into the major decisions that are made.

Now I’m going to get back to work on these courses!

Peace,

Gabe

If you’re reading this (as you must be), it gives me great pleasure to know that you’re turning to me to find out about Wheaton. I’m really lucky to go to school here and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you from time to time. But before we get started with that, let me tell you a little about me.

• I’m from only about 20 minutes away in nearby Pawtucket, RI
• I went to a small, private high school
• I’m a Political Science major with minors in the American Economy and African, African-American, and Diaspora Studies
• On campus, I’m involved with several civic-minded organizations: I’m a senator on the Student Government Association Senate, the president of our chapter of the Roosevelt Institution (a network of student-run policy think tanks — I’ll explain more about this in future posts), a member of the College Democrats, and a mentor in the HERO program (a college preparation mentoring program for potential first-generation college students), just to name a few
• I hold two jobs on campus, working in the Office of the Provost and as a barista in the student-run coffeehouse, the Lyon’s Den
  

  That's me in action...Barack-ING the VOTE!

• Off-campus, I’m involved in community organizations in my home state of Rhode Island, where I serve on a non-profit organization’s board of directors and am involved in state and local Democratic politics

Most recently, like most other young people, I devoted attention to Senator…I mean PRESIDENT-ELECT (wow, that feels good to say) Barack Obama’s campaign for President. I helped coordinate on-campus efforts to have my fellow students do voter contact in the near by swing-state of New Hampshire and make calls from the Providence Obama campaign office. I spent at least one day every weekend for 2 months knocking on doors and spreading the Obama-Biden ticket’s message for change. I kicked it up a notch at the end of the campaign by spending 5 days before and through Election Day (with the permission of my professors) up in the Nashua, NH area working as a training captain to help get out the vote for Barack Obama and the other candidates on the slate. I’m so glad that I could play a role in making history, Election Day was one of the greatest days of my life!

It’s getting toward the end of the semester, so I’ve got a pretty big load of papers to write. I’ll let you join in on my final push in my next blogpost. Until then…don’t forget to check back!

Peace,

Gabe