Global Scholar Students Representing AU on C-SPAN Campaign Bus

On the Monday before the election, three Global Scholars students had the unique opportunity to join the team representing American University on the C-SPAN Campaign Bus to ask questions about the election! They were featured live on the Washington Journal show that morning. Below is a short description of the experience by each of the participating students.


Isabelle Rodas
Ten students were chosen to represent American University on C-SPAN, and three of these students were Global Scholars. We were all so proud! But it wasn't until I saw the C-SPAN bus that I began to get nervous. As we sat on the bus waiting, you could hear all ten of us whispering and practicing our questions under our breath. It's silly all the ways you imagine yourself messing up one simple question. It also didn't help that right before the segment began, we were told that we were "going to go live to thousands of Americans” by the producers. When my name was called, I remember taking a deep breath and sitting in front of the camera. And then it happened - I was on live to thousands of Americans! All fear was gone, and I began to speak. And miraculously it came out perfectly. What I remember most though, was what I was told when I had just finished speaking: "Excellent job. That was very powerful!" And I thought, this is why I go to the most politically active school in the nation, and this is why I am a Global Scholar.


 
Anna Sutton

I have never been more worried about getting a sudden case of hiccups in my life, as I was during my question on C-SPAN. It was so nerve-racking, but at the same time exciting, to be on that bus. We were given a chance to ask about anything we wanted concerning President Obama's leadership. I have been spending a lot of time volunteering for the Obama campaign lately, and the question I asked was if the speaker on the show thought President Obama's early experience as a community organizer in Chicago would changed the way campaigns will be lead in the future. I am so glad to be in Global Scholars Program because I never would have been a part of this great opportunity if Professor Knight had not sent out an email about it!


Tristan Slusser

Needless to say the C-SPAN event was a really great experience and a wonderful opportunity to represent the Global Scholars Program. I suppose the most difficult part was coming up with a good question. I drafted two prior to that morning but ended up discarding them, at the last minute, seeing how they had already been addressed by the speaker. I came up with two more questions on the spot before finally settling on the one I asked. The second thing that was a little nerve racking is that I have always been afraid to speak in front of people. So the fact that this was going on TV, to be seen by lots of people, did not help too much. Somehow however, I succeeded in maintaining my calm and getting the words out. On the technical side of things it was interesting to see how the guys operated the camera and ran the show; coordinating with their bosses back in the studio. It all appeared rather simple and they were able to quickly switch from one student to the next in the line of questions. Overall, my favorite part was all the positive feedback I got from all my friends from back home who, somehow, saw the clip. Everyone was really excited to see that I got to be on TV.