Hi! I’m Blake Ormond, a sophomore vocal music education major and a first soprano in the St. Olaf Chapel Choir. A few things about me: I grew up in Chicago, but over the summers I work as a camp counselor in Michigan where I run the rock wall and high ropes course, and this will be my fifth time traveling to D.C.
I’m taking this course because I’m always interested in learning more about our government, and this seemed like a great way to combine my interest in music and government. One of my favorite classes I took in high school was AP U.S. Government and Politics and this course will be an excellent way to apply knowledge from that class. Additionally, I took a writing course last spring that touched on copyright law and music, and it seems that this course has a lot of overlap with that. I am also interested in looking at funding for arts in public schools due to my passion for education.
Since we will be spending the month in a city as vibrant as D.C., I’m excited to experience what D.C. has to offer beyond what I’ve seen in my jam packed 4 day visits in the past. It will also be fun to live in a city, as opposed to being cooped up on campus. With many advantages to being in D.C., such as seemingly endless possibilities for things to do, comes the disadvantage of not even knowing where to begin. Our final assignment is to draft a policy proposal that has to do with the arts, and one fear of mine is appropriately narrowing down my topic for the assignment. Beyond that, figuring out who would be best to make the proposal to and people in D.C. I should meet with.
Growing up in a large city such as Chicago, I am good at navigating around cities and I’m comfortable with public transportation. I also am a people person and would consider myself a good conversationalist, which is useful with all of the people we will be meeting. Lastly, I am a music major and will have a different perspective to add to conversations when we talk about music specifically. I’m excited to see what this month has in store for us!
My sister and me (right) navigating the New York subway system.