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There’s no better experiential-learning opportunity for a political science student than to attend a national convention, as Northeastern University’s Claire Satkiewicz is learning this week in Chicago.
“I think everyone is very excited, and I’m just very grateful that we all have this opportunity,” says Satkiewicz, 19, the youngest member of the delegation to the Democratic National Convention from her home state of Illinois.
Satkiewicz is studying politics, philosophy and economics at Northeastern where she’s a rising second-year student. But she has been very involved in politics since high school, where she participated in debate and was a member of the school newspaper staff.
She also talked about politics frequently with her parents.
“I grew up in a family where we talked about politics very openly, and my parents always encouraged critical thinking,” Satkiewicz says.
The 2020 election and the controversy surrounding its outcome and the Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements also inspired Satkiewicz to get involved.“It made me very eager to get more involved and make a difference, even though I wasn’t of voting age yet,” Satkiewicz says. “That’s when I started to have a passion ignited in me where politics is not this abstract thing where we vote and somehow things will happen. It’s also that there are very concrete ways that it manifests in our lives.”
Meanwhile, Satkiewicz participated in Northeastern’s London Scholars program, where she was exposed to international opinions and broader perspectives on American democracy.
“It really broadened my perspective and made me a much more involved, much more knowledgeable person who was interested in politics,” Satkiewicz says. “I had some really amazing professors in London where we talked about different types of voting, we talked about how democracies work and what puts democracies in danger, and all of those things are things we’re seeing very concretely in this year’s election.”
Satkiewicz will be in attendance when Kamala Harris officially accepts her party’s nomination on Thursday night.
“I think it’s about time that we had a woman president here in the United States,” she says. “And not only would she be the first woman president, she would be the first Black woman president and she would be the first Asian woman president.
Satkiewicz’s mother emigrated from China.
“I’ve never been able to see myself reflected so directly in a candidate before for president,” she says.
As for getting to the convention, Satkiewicz’s mentor, Illinois state Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl, encouraged Satkiewicz to apply to be a delegate. Satkiewicz said she was thrilled to be named an alternate this spring.
“The moment when I found that out was truly such an amazing moment,” Satkiewicz says.
Now, she’s shaking hands with governors, state and federal officials, meeting fellow delegates, and hearing from some of the brightest stars in politics.
Might Satkiewicz one day share these politicians’ spotlight?
First, she sees law school in her future.
But Satkiewicz says she has particularly enjoyed meeting different people at the convention who are involved in multiple aspects of politics.
“One of the best parts of the convention is I’ve been able to speak with some people and kind of see a lot of different ways that my career could go,” Satkiewicz says. “I’ve been able to speak with people working in unions, I’ve been able to speak with lobbyists, I’ve been able to speak with elected officials and of people of all different levels of government, and I spoke with people who worked in the Pentagon.”
“It’s also been very cool to just talk to people on all levels of politics and get to know them as individuals instead of just political figureheads,” Satkiewicz continues. “It made me feel very included and made me feel like I was in a room with people that were really going to make a difference in the world.”