WHO more well-informed about the Junior Statesmen of America Program than I, a twice summer camper (Stanford 2000, Princeton 2001), a debate director, and the secretary of our school’s chapter? And who less competent to speak about this program, I feel much obliged to speak on their behalf.
The Junior Statesmen of America, firstly and quite frankly, is an expensive program—$3,000 for two courses in a month-long prestigious college campus. But the depth and scope of this academic experience surpasses all available local opportunities and creates an unforgettable and invaluable experience worth your investment.
The American government, comparative politics, and political communications classes that I took during my years at JSA are not in any way comparable to day-to-day discussions of politics, or sitting in a library for the whole summer reading a couple of Time magazines. Of course, one can self-learn about the various political philosophies of Locke, Hobbes, Hume, Rousseau and Marx. One can also self-learn about political game theories, both cooperative and non-cooperative of von Neumann, Flood, Dresher and Nash.
But let’s get real. We do not learn about the Supreme Court rulings over each constitutional amendment, nor do we spend two hours each night in a constructive parliamentary-style debate following Robert’s Rules of Order. JSA gives you a unique opportunity for that experience. This is not about how you are capable of learning. I believe that everyone is smart, and is capable of digesting huge chunks of Harvard or MIT readers. This program, albeit, is about being there, breathing academics, and having a high caliber university professor as your guide into the new world of constructivism (Derrida, Postman, Edelman, Foucault, etc.), political situations of the most unheard nations like Nigeria, and simply politics.
Believe it or not, our day-to-day lives are full of struggles over give and take. And believe it or not, every single action is give and take, be it words or resources. The squirrels, the fountains, real research libraries 15 times the size of our local public library (no joke—they’re really that big), dorm food, and other little things, altogether combined with a distinguishable set of professors in political science makes the Junior Statesmen of America program a worthwhile, invaluable, and priceless experience in learning this art of give and take. As a person who has seen, done, and lived JSA, outside of your speculations Ms. Cepeda, I owe much of who I am today—the way I think, write, and live, to list a few—to JSA. Thus, I feel much obligated to defend this program just as Mr. Torres has. A one recent MasterCard commercial says: “Education? Priceless.” PETE BAE
Gualo Rai, Saipan
