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by Sarah Goresch, Guest Blogger
When my mom first told me about the peace conference that was being
held in Washington DC, I thought it was just going to be a bunch of
older hippies marching outside the white house with picket signs
promoting peace and doing a “Bush Bash.”
In fear of being the only person that has yet to collect their
401-K, I turned down the offer to accompany her in her campaign
travels, but would still support her efforts in The Department of Peace.
Day-after-day my mom bombarded me day with facts
about the conference or just the bill in general. I did what every 18
year old does best and just tuned her out to my best ability; however,
there came a breaking point when I gave in at last. At that point she
gave me a web site to visit about The Student Peace Alliance.
WOW. Students? Peace? What’s this….?? As I saw brochures laying around
my house, bumper stickers on our cars and pins stuck to everything
promoting The Department of Peace, I couldn’t stop wondering and thinking about the conference in Washington DC.
Well, as you can probably tell, I gave in to my mom's
constant banter and boarded the not-so-luxurious Amtrak train Thursday
evening with her and two other Michigan representatives, whom are NOT
youth, might I add.
When we finally arrived at the Westin Hotel in Washington
DC, I discovered the unexpected: 20-30 youth, just like myself were
scattered about the hotel; in fact, I couldn’t turn my head without
seeing one!
The students range from tie-dye and rainbow hand-knit
hats to conservative Mormons from Utah to elementary school students.
The best part about all the diversity is this-- we’re all here for one
reason, and that one reason is to promote peace! And this fact does not
just hold true for the Student Peace Alliance, but also for the adults.
“Do one thing each day that scares you.”- Eleanor Roosevelt (Former first lady)
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