Author: Taneesh Garg

Hello Everyone,

Come November, the festive season starts and I just love the vibes. There is so much to look forward to. All the celebrations and the holidays. November and December hold major festivals for a lot of cultures and this year, I was happy and lucky to have been able to celebrate some of them with various families. Each Celebration was unique, different, and fun in its own special way.

Diwali

November started with the celebration of Diwali. Many celebrate Diwali by lighting candles and lamps. Lighting firecrackers are also a big part of the celebration, much like the Fourth of July.  Diwali is the festival of lights. Many keep all the lights on in their house to ward off evil spirits and invite positivity and prosperity into the house.

Diwali symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.

People who celebrate, decorate their houses with flowers and lamps and lots of varieties of traditional sweets are prepared.

Sweets and lamps are also exchanged with neighbors and friends and family. Many gather with friends and light lots of firecrackers. On the day of Diwali, all lights in the house are kept on to invite the goddess of prosperity.

I lit many firecrackers myself and it was very fun. I love to light firecrackers and watch them. Some of them are really big and some of them are small, but all of them are a bucket-load of fun.

Fun Facts about Diwali:

• Diwali is always celebrated on a no moon night, which is why the date of Diwali changes every year.
• Diwali is celebrated in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Fiji, Thailand, Mauritius, Australia, Canada and USA.
• More than 800 million people celebrate this festival in various ways.
• Diwali is the most famous festival in India.
• The estimated amount of money spent on firecrackers every year is about 1 billion dollars.

For a feel of Diwali, type Diwali into Google and click on the lamp image that comes right on top.

Its really cool how we can light each of the lamps. Try it out when you have a minute.

 

Thanksgiving

Towards the end of November, maybe some of you had a big feast and maybe you went shopping the day after on Black Friday. Well all of that was for celebrating the wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I am sure that most of you know about Thanksgiving, but I can share with you about the history and the cool facts about it that I learned this year.

Thanksgiving is celebrated for the harvest and all other blessings that year. It is also modeled after the 1621 harvest feast between the Wampanoag and the pilgrims. It is celebrated all throughout the United States of America and Canada.

Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated by making a big feast for the evening, including a stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, and my absolute favorite pumpkin pie. The whole family including extended family come around the table to have a scrumptious meal together. Just the thought of it, brings a smile because we are surrounded with so much of love. When things get busy, it is easy to forget our blessings. So this day sounds perfect to really count our blessings for the entire year.

My family and some friends also got together for a big feast and gave thanks for all our blessings. The food was awesome, and it was so fun to share in the celebrations.

Fun Facts about Thanksgiving

• Turkey was not on the menu for the first thanksgiving.
• There are four towns named “Turkey” in the United States.
• On thanksgiving the average calories consumed by one person is 4,500.
• More than 54 million people traveled this year on Thanksgiving.
• In 1939 thanksgiving was celebrated on the third Thursday not the fourth.
• Americans prepare 46 million turkeys each year for Thanksgiving.
• Only male turkeys gobble.
• In America, we consume about 50 million pumpkin pies each year on Thanksgiving.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah started On November 28th this year and continued for 8 days until December 6th. If you saw a row of candles in someone’s window they were probably lighting their menorah for Hanukkah. Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of lights (similar to Diwali). It is one of the most famous Jewish celebrations.

During the Israeli Culture Club Be You Meetup one of the holidays we covered was Rosh Hashanah. The link to that Blog is here.

“Hanukkah Sameach!” (in Jewish) or Happy Hanukkah.

Hanukkah celebrates the lighting of the candles in the Second Temple. Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting a candle each night on the menorah. People also celebrate by singing special songs, reciting the Hallel prayer, eating foods fried in oil, such as latkes, sufganiyot and other dairy foods, playing dreidel games and many more. According to some of my school friends, the best part of this holiday is that kids receive special pocket money from their parents and get to eat delicious oily deep-fried ball-shaped jelly doughnuts called sufganiyot, filled with strawberry or raspberry jelly and topped with powdered sugar.

 

Our neighbors made some delicious jelly doughnuts and lighted the menorah to celebrate Hanukkah at home.

 

 

Some Fun Facts about Hanukkah

• The word Hanukkah means “Dedication.”
• Dishes eaten on Hanukkah are all fried.
• There is 16 different ways to spell Hanukkah.
• The dreidel was invented to be a distraction.
• Over 17.5 million jelly doughnuts are consumed in Israel every Hanukkah.

For a feel of Hanukkah, type Hanukkah into Google and click on the menorah image that comes right on top.

It’s really cool how we can light each of the menorah candles. Try it out when you have a minute.

 

Glad I could share this fun celebration with you. Email us at or.kidgovernor@gmail.com. I can’t wait to hear from you all.

Christmas

Christmas is celebrated on December 25th every year. Many families across the world celebrate Christmas and it is the most celebrated holiday around the world.

Christmas is celebrated to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated by attending church, exchanging gifts, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. Santa Claus and his gifts have a special place in every kid’s life, such is the craze of Christmas. Christmas is one such festival that attracts people of all faith towards it. Christmas is truly known as the festival of joy, and it definitely teaches us to practice kindness and love towards each other and to help others in need.

Christmas trees are one of the biggest highlights associated with the festival and I had a fun time decorating our tree at home. It is special to take out the ornaments and setup the tree while sipping hot chocolate. It is one of the things that I really look forward to every year.

In preparation for Christmas, we bake the traditional plum cake and make rocky road fudge which is my favorite among all the sweets that Christmas brings. My sister and I always help in making the rocky road fudge and of course help a lot in eating it too! 😛

All of December, the radio plays Christmas carols. It definitely brings us into the Christmas spirit.

We got together with our friends to celebrate Christmas and we played some fun Christmas-themed games like the White Elephant and Candy Cane hook game.

Some Fun Facts about Christmas

• Jingle bells was the first song played in space.
• The average money spent per person this year for Christmas gifts was $1,500 in the US.
• The statue of liberty is the largest Christmas present ever.
• 1.5 billion Christmas cards are sent each year in the US.
• Over $2 billion was spent on Christmas day for treats in the US.
• There are 750 different versions of Silent Night.
• Home Alone is the highest viewed Christmas movie of all time.
• Around 28 Lego sets are sold every second during the Christmas season.
• The day after Christmas is National Candy Cane day.

Thank you to all of you for reading through the festive season blog. Hope you all enjoyed reading it.

Wishing everybody a very Happy New Year.

~Taneesh

 

Hello friends

A few weeks ago, we had another Club Be You meeting. It was our first meeting after schools re-opened. In that meeting, we learned about the Indian culture.

We had spent hours researching about the Indian Culture and we couldn’t wait to present and discuss it to all with our Club Be You members.

The meeting started and as kids joined, it felt awesome. I was even more happy to see that my 5th Grade teacher Mrs. Seawell could also join us. Seeing lot of familiar faces calmed down my nerves. Without wasting anytime, we started with the presentation that we had prepared.

While researching and talking to families, I got to learn a great deal about the Indian culture and was so fascinated about all the cool facts of the culture. India is one of the most ethnically diverse cultures in the world.

What fascinated me most is that from East to West and from North to South of India, the culture changes a whole lot including food, language, attire, music, dance etc. All of that contributes to make the Indian culture really varied and vast. We learned about sports as well.

Foods in the Indian culture have great diversity and Indian cuisine is not one but combined taste of different food from all across the Indian subcontinent. In fact all the states and union territories have its own typical cuisine which is the expression of the local ingredients, spices and cooking methods brought together as its heritage. I have learned that the average Indian recipe has numerous ingredients.

India, being a culturally diverse society, celebrates many holidays and festivals. Most of those festivals are very vibrant and celebrated with a lot of pomp and enthusiasm bringing people closer. One of the families whom I talked to said that Indian festivals say that Life is a celebration. That thought has stuck with me.

Fun fact: Did you know that Vanarsi in India is the oldest surviving city in the world.

We had a kahoot as well and it was enjoyed by all participants.

Once the presentation was over, comments and discussions followed. Indian culture was a delightful topic to learn about. There are also links in the presentation to some of the culture’s most popular food.

Please see the presentation of the Indian culture here, and if you find some time, please read through it.

~Taneesh

Hello everyone,

In September, Club Be You hosted a cricket tournament with the help of Beaverton Cricket Club. “There is nothing quite like sports that can bring us all together.” We thought the sporting event would be a great way to bring people together. During the tournament we also had a multicultural food sale. The food sale and cricket tournament were a huge hit and I really feel grateful for everybody who participated and helped make this happen.

It was Saturday night and I was helping for the final preparations for the food sale and tournament. My friends and some Club Be You members gathered at our place to make posters. As we made posters, we talked about how exciting tomorrow would be. I couldn’t wait. When we were finally done I went to sleep hoping for a sunny day.

The next morning, I was so pumped to go. After I got ready, I helped my family pack the supplies into the car and soon it was time to leave.

I got some of my stuff and jumped into the car. It was a perfect day to play sports. When we arrived at PCC Rock Creek campus, we started to set up the stand. We displayed the trophies on the stand.

There were four teams called Red Raptors, Green Gators, Blue Bears, and Yellow Yodas. 50 kids participated in the tournament. I was on the Red Raptors team. We warmed up well with some exercises and then went to our match.

Cricket is the 2nd most popular sport in the world. Cricket originated in England but Indians play it the most. Cricket is played by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, England, New Zealand, Afghanistan, West Indies, South Africa, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, and many more countries that I do not know of. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was amazed at how many people were cheering and supporting us.

Me and my dear friends took turns to manage at the food stall. The items were: Chicken or Veggie kebab burger with a side of chips, a falafel Caesar salad, there were cookie brownies or as I like to call it a brookie, and lastly there were Kreme rolls. The chicken or veggie kebab burger was a mix of American and Asian cultures. The Falafel Caesar salad was from Mediterranean and American cultures. And the Kreme rolls were from Europe and East Asia.

Wow, talking about all of that just made me hungry again 😛

As people stopped by at the stall, it was a great opportunity to talk and distribute flyers we had made about my platform and the Oregon Kid Governor Program as a whole. I met so many kids who wanted to participate in the Oregon Kid Governor program when they were in 5th grade. So many people wanted to try the multi – cultural fusion foods and I was so happy to see so many people donating to help with our cause. We had many customers from kids to adults. When we wrapped up our food stall, we saw that we were able to raise $192.

I would really like to thank my friends and Club Be you members you helped immensely to make this event a success.

~Taneesh

 

Hello everyone,

Just a few weeks ago I went to the State Capitol of Oregon. My most awaited day and I was thrilled!!

My family and I had been driving for the last 40 mins to get to the Capitol and finally it came into sight. Such a beautiful grand building.

After we parked, we went inside and waited for Nikki. Everything around me looked so cool, historical, and grand. When Nikki came, we all greeted each other and were ready to go. Soon after, Leslie, our tour guide, was so kind to give us a tour around the Capitol and explain a lot of things to us.

We first started with the Oregon Emblem in the middle of the Rotunda. Leslie told us that the 33 stars around the emblem represented that Oregon was the 33rd state of the United States. The Eagle on the top of the emblem is the country’s national bird. In its left claw it had an olive branch representing peace. In its right claw it had 3 arrows representing that it takes strength to make peace.

In the middle of the emblem there was a wagon with oxen pulling it. She told us it represented the Oregon Trail, a 2,000-mile-long route from Independence, Missouri to the Willamette Valley. I had learned about the Oregon trail at school in 4th Grade and seeing it as part of the emblem was very special to me. I enjoyed Oregon Trail so much that we also got the Oregon Trail Board game. If you have not played that yet, please check it out.

The emblem also had a piece of wheat and a pickaxe representing the natural resources and the hard work. Lastly the emblem had the date when Oregon became a state. It was February 14, 1859. It was on Valentine’s Day! How cool is that!!

After the emblem we went to look at the pictures on the wall in the rotunda. They represented important dates in Oregon’s history.

One of them was about the Oregon Trail and how it was one of the largest migratory processions by choice. The Oregon Trail was very brutal, and it took its toll on many, but many made it through as well. Another was about the fur trade which was very important back in the time.

After the rotunda we went to the Oregon Senate. The senate had a big picture in the middle. Leslie said that it represented the time when the news reached Oregonians that Oregon was now a US State. That date was March 17th, 1859. That’s St. Patrick’s Day! I wondered that it took a little over a month for the news to travel to Oregon, which is unimaginable to us as we live at this age of the internet.

I learned that anybody could see what senators are voting with big screens on the sides of the Senate. I liked how the process is so transparent. It is not private like voting for the president. Anyone can watch the voting happen either by actually going to the Capitol and watching or by tuning in virtually these days.

After that we went to the House of Representatives. It also had a big picture in the middle. This represented when all the people on the Oregon Trail voted for what type of government Oregon should have, an American style government or a British style Government. Somehow it was a tie 51 – 51. When they voted again one Spanish trader changed sides to the American Style Government and the score was 52 – 50. The House of Representatives was very similar to the Senate. The feel when I was in the Senate and the House of Representatives is unexplainable. I felt grateful to be in this great country of the United States of America.

Leslie got permission and then let me go onto the podium. It was so cool! The view and the feel from up there is like none other.

After visiting the House of Representatives, the tour was over. We went back to the rotunda. Then Nikki took us to the Governor’s Office.

As I stood at the door that says “Governor”, I couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to really be the Governor of the State . A lady at the Governor’s office showed us around the office.

 

 

 

 

 

She also told us about an Oregon flag that had been sent to the moon. Every USA state had one flag sent to the moon and then given back along with some moon rocks. Oregon was one of the only states who still knew where their flag was. So proud to be an Oregonian.

The highlight was when I was given the opportunity to sit on the Governor’s chair and received a pen with the Governor’s signature on it! That is now one of my most prized possession.

After that we got to see the Conference room that the Governor has her meetings in and I remembered seeing her on TV and it was so cool to see in person where all of that happens.

Soon we went to the Secretary of State’s office. She had a White House made of Legos in her room and I loved how detailed it was! Her chair also had a Wonder Woman cape on it which was so cool. Secretary Fagan’s office had lots of games for children. One thing that really took my attention was a quote on the shelf which said “Be the Nice Kid.” It’s so true that in our daily activities, we want to be the cool one or the smart one or the popular one….but I think being the Kind One is the most important and everything else can come after that.

After the Secretary of State’s office, it was time to go. We took a few more pictures and then left the building.

Thank You Nikki for organizing this for me.

While we were going back home, I thought about everything we did there. It was a once in lifetime experience (and my mom took too many photos. as always 😊 ) I hope that I can visit the Capital again soon.

~Taneesh

 

 

Hello Everyone,

A very happy Shanah Tovah to everyone.

During the Israeli Culture Club Be You Meetup one of the holidays we covered was Rosh Hashanah. The link to that Blog is here http://or.kidgovernor.org/club-be-you-israeli-culture

Shanah Tovah or Happy New Year in Hebrew.

Rosh Hashanah is the two-day celebration for the Jewish New Year. It represents Adam and Eve, the beginning of humankind.

Rosh Hashanah is celebrated by eating apples and honey, and sounding an instrument made of the ram’s horn called Shofar. During Rosh Hashanah, candles are also lighted each evening.

Fun facts about Rosh Hashanah

• It’s traditional to eat a fruit you haven’t eaten for a long time on the second night of Rosh Hashanah.
• The Shofar is blown exactly 100 times per day.
• It is customary to eat the head of a fish on Rosh Hashanah
• Many people eat pomegranate on Rosh Hashanah and then count the seeds.

I hope you will also wish Shanah Tovah to a friend who celebrates Rosh Hashanah!! I am sure it will make them feel happy.

~ Taneesh

 

Hello everyone,

A couple of weeks ago I was given the opportunity to meet our Honorable Secretary of State Shemia Fagan and Deputy Secretary Cheryl. I have had a chance in the past as well to meet both of them and I have always been inspired. I was really looking forward to this meeting.

As the meeting started, I took a few deep breaths and was ready to go. A few seconds later, Nikki spoke about the agenda of the meeting then turned it over to me.

Secretary Fagan and Deputy Secretary Cheryl do know a lot about my platform and have always encouraged and supported me. I quickly gave an update about my platform, my plan and what I’ve been doing till date. We also talked about some fun things and shared some good laughs. So grateful to have this opportunity to meet, learn and feel inspired.

Soon it was question time if I had any and I wanted to ask these. “What is the role of the Secretary of State’s office” , “What was your most Proudest accomplishment?” And “What was the most difficult decision you’ve had to make?”

I am so thankful that they took out time from their very busy schedule and patiently answered and explained so much to me. A few things I have learned and wanted to share with you all.

• The Secretary of State’s Office’s main job is to build the trust between the Government and Citizens.
• The Secretary of State’s office passionately advocated for a Director of Diversity and Equity who is making systems and programs to embed equity in our state. She is working with the Secretary of State’s Office to promote equity and inclusion in all branches of the government.
• Another thing I learned is that the Secretary of State’s office advocated for a bill, otherwise known as a law, to make it so the voters’ pamphlet would come in 5 different languages other than English. I think this is so important so that the pamphlet can reach and be understood by so many more people. This helps more people to exercise their right to vote.

Picture time is always a happy time. I smiled my brightest smile. After the picture I thought to myself “Maybe I went a little overboard with the smiling.” 😛

The meeting came to an end and I think meeting with Secretary Fagan and Deputy Secretary Cheryl was one of the best experiences of my life and I will never forget it.

Also, I would like to take the time here to express my heartfelt thanks for everything Nikki does for me and the Kid Governor Program 🙂
~Taneesh

 

Hello everyone,

A couple of weeks ago I met with Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. Can you believe it? I am so grateful that she was able to take some out from her busy schedule.

I had been waiting very excitedly for the last 3 days for this meeting and finally it was so close. Soon the time came to join. I didn’t think that my excitement could wait any longer. When I joined, Nikki told me that Attorney General Ellen would join soon.

When The Attorney General joined I took a deep breath and got ready to speak. Nikki then told us about the agenda of the meeting and then turned it over to me.

I talked about my platform, my 3 point plan and what I’ve been doing till date and some things that I am working on during this summer. When I was talking about everything that has been going on, I realized that it was almost 6 months since inauguration. The thought brought a smile to my face.

It was time to ask any questions I had. I had some questions in mind that I was so wanting to learn about such as “ What is the role of the Attorney General,” “What was your most proudest accomplishment in the past legislative session,” “ What was the most challenging part as Attorney General.”

The Attorney General was so kind to talk in detail about each of my queries . Some interesting facts I learned that I would like to share with you :

The Attorney General is like a lawyer who provides legal advice to the State.
Oregon Department of Justice is led by the Attorney general and is the largest law firm in the State. The 300 lawyers in the Department of Justice represent every agency of the Government.
Another important part of the attorney General’s job is to be “People’s attorney” and by that it means that she looks out for the people of the state who is the most vulnerable.
Consumer protection is also a big part of the Attorney General’s job, looking out for people who are most vulnerable to be scammed. It could be kids, seniors, immigrants or just about anyone.

I also learned that the Oregon Department of Justice has taken up a multi-year long project and created a task force for addressing Hate crimes and Bias incidents in the State. A hotline has been started and that means that anyone who feels targeted because of their race, religion etc, can call / email and they will be responded to and will receive services to address the issue and get them the help needed. This project was advocated by The Attorney General herself for the Civil Rights division.

We moved on to talk about The Attorney General’s favorite accomplishment. I was surprised to learn that the average amount that Oregonians owe when they finish college is around Thirty thousand dollars which has to be paid back. In the past legislative session, The Attorney General’s office was able to build a Student loan service program to provide licensed servicers to students/former students to help figure out how to pay back the debt effectively. This will definitely help so many students to start their professional life at a great note.

We had some sweet surprise visitors as well. I was given the wonderful opportunity to meet Attorney General Ellen’s grandchildren. Charlotte and Benjamin. We talked a bit about how the Oregon Kid Governor elections work.

After that Nikki helped click some pictures. I couldn’t believe I was going to have a picture with the Attorney General!

Soon it was time to leave and we said goodbyes and ended the meeting. Looking back I feel blessed to have had this opportunity to meet the Attorney General of Oregon . I hope I can meet her again in person sometime..

~ Taneesh

Hello Everyone,

July 4th is the American Independence day. It is an awesome holiday celebrated by Americans all around the world. This year, I wanted to reach out to my friends and ask them what they usually do on July 4th. The answers I got were varied but one thing was common – parade and fireworks. Every year, I have also enjoyed parades and grand fireworks in and around Portland and it is always such a fun day.

July 4th is celebrated for the signing of the Declaration of Independence which gave the original 13 colonies freedom. Our great country is among the freest nations on earth and we are free to express ourselves, live and love freely without fear.

Many people celebrate July 4th with fireworks (especially Red, White, And Blue colors), watching sports, participating in parades, concerts, street parties, and sometimes just waving the American Flag and Singing the National anthem of America.

Some ways you can celebrate July 4th are to wear a patriotic T-Shirt or attend a fireworks show. A lot of my friends even have a picnic or barbecue. You could also raise the flag of the United States Of America.

This year, one way me and my family celebrated July 4th was by visiting a historic landmark. We visited the Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park.

We also visited the Grand Teton State Park. True to its name, it was really grand. I feel fortunate to live in this beautiful country that also values traits like compassion, empathy and acceptance.

Fun facts about July 4th

• Americans eat about 150 million hot dogs over the July 4th weekend
• About 1 billion dollars are spent for fireworks each year for July 4th
• The Liberty Bell (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) used to ring 13 times on July 4th to honor the 13 colonies.
• Calvin Coolidge was the only American president to be born on July 4th
• July 4th is celebrated in the United Kingdom as well.

What did you do for July 4th? Email or.kidgovernor@gmail.com we would love to hear what you think. See you next time

~Taneesh

Hello everyone, in June, I had a leadership summit with the other Kid Governors, their cabinet members and my cabinet members. I was so excited about the meeting and it was everything I thought it to be and more.

It was 10:55 AM and I was getting ready to log on to the leadership summit. I was pretty nervous but excited to meet everybody.

Soon it was time. I logged on and saw the other Kid Governors and some of the coordinators of this wonderful Kid Governor program. Soon Brian Cofrancesco introduced himself as the head of the Kid Governor program.

In the first session, Rese (Connecticut Kid Governor), Charlie (New Hampshire Kid Governor), and I were only meeting. Brian gave us “would you rather” polls, to get to know each other better. Some of the questions were really funny like “Would you rather have moose antlers or cow horns.” Brian asked us why we chose what we chose. It was a very entertaining and fun game. This game was a good ice breaker and put us all at ease.

I learned so much about Charlie’s and Rese’s platform and the wonderful work they have been doing.

Rese’s platform is Be Positive: Pandemic Perseverance. Visit her website page HERE, watch her campaign video HERE, and read her blog HERE.

Charlie’s platform is Childhood Depression. Visit his website page HERE, watch his campaign video HERE, and read his blog HERE.

After that we asked each other questions such as “what was the most interesting thing you have done till date.” I answered the questions as best I could. Then we got a 5 minute break before our cabinet members came.

As I turned my video off and muted I thought  “That was a very interesting session. I couldn’t wait for the next session.”

Hello Everyone, Just some time ago I met with Senator Merkley. Can you believe it? He is part of the two senators of the United State Senate from Oregon. He votes on bills for the whole country!

It was 12:10 PM and I was soon to meet Senator Merkley. My nerves were bouncing all over my stomach like there was a trampoline party in there. When I joined the meeting I saw that Senator Merkley had not come yet. I was then told that Senator Merkley had such a tight schedule that he would only be here for about 10-15 minutes.

For the next 5 mins I was going like “Is he here yet ?” “Is he here yet?” inside of me. I couldn’t control my excitement. For that 5 mins my nerves were crazier than ever.

I was so grateful that he took some time out of his super tight schedule to meet me. It is a big honor. I told him all about my platform and what I have been doing till date.

After I finished, I asked him some questions. One of the questions were “How does the Senate and the House work together” and “How does every Senator agree to pass a law” He was kind enough to take the time to answer and explain to me how the Congress works. It was so nice to learn about it. He patiently answered all of my questions. Senator Merkley also talked about voting, the filibuster, and For the People Act. It was very fascinating meeting and I wish I could do it again.

Meeting with Senator Merkley was a wonderful opportunity that I will remember forever.

~Taneesh