8 minute read
Backing Biden from Britain
Two recent Old Columbans worked for the Florida Democrats in the 2020 United States Presidential Election. They share their experiences with the Columban community.
Roll back to March 2020. The world was trundling along uninterrupted, with the likelihood of two septuagenarians offering a muchthe-same US presidential election – the mainstream Joe Biden v. the continued collision course of Trump. How wrong we were. Sure, Americans ended up with the much-expected choice of Biden/Trump, but curveball after curveball came their way. And COVID-19 was only the tip of the iceberg. Six months before the election, no-one predicted that Trump would leave the White House. So how does a British guy from Hertfordshire end up being involved in all this? After finishing my degree and sabbatical at Durham University, and before starting a graduate scheme, I was looking for an imaginative way to fill my summer. Some would’ve gone backpacking in Thailand…I wanted to volunteer for the Democrat campaign. A vague idea – and one I had no idea how to achieve. Through a fluke recommendation on the last day of applications, I came across Politrip – a scheme that connected young British, American politics-enthusiasts to Democrat campaigns. It was too good an opportunity to miss. From then on, I became a Fellow of the Democrats. I was originally meant to spend six weeks in Arlington, right on the doorstop of Washington DC. But like so much of our lives, COVID-19 turned that on its head. Instead I beamed into Biden’s Miami campaign virtually from Hertfordshire, without quite the same tropical weather. Whilst a completely different experience, it amazed me how you can still engage voters through text and phone banking – making well over one-thousand calls. Virtual campaigning has its pros and cons: you can connect to more voters, quicker. But it’s easier for voters to ignore you. I certainly had a fair share of expletives and abuse thrown my way. And through those hundreds and hundreds of calls, you only have 15 or so meaningful, persuasive conversations. Though in that allimportant state of Florida, 15 votes really do make the difference. My real highlights (apart from Zoom calls with President Obama, Kamala Harris and Cher!) came from voters’ responses. You leave the campaign thinking you’ve heard it all. From those convinced a British guy must be a Russian spy, to a woman in labour … you can’t make it up. Of course, SCC played a role in all this.
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Were it not for Mr McKenzie’s top
A-level classes, I would never have developed my keen interest for
US politics and tried to take this further. US political divisions will take years to heal, but I feel proud to have played a tiny role. It was so easy to get involved – and something I can’t recommend enough to sixth formers and recent leavers. After all, the 2024 race is just around the corner.
Leo Harris C16
Working for the Florida Democrats between September and November of 2020 was an incredibly insightful experience. I had been accepted to be an intern to work on Debbie Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign, who was the member of Congress for Florida’s 26th district between 2019-2021. Whilst I was unfortunately limited in my capacity of what I could do because the internship was remote, it was still incredibly worthwhile. My job revolved around quantitative input for campaign fundraising. More than anything, I had to be fully up to date with all the latest events in Florida’s 26th district at the time. Whilst I would normally be very interested in the congressional election cycle, knowing that I was working for a member of Congress who was seeking re-election really brought the election to life. Getting to know what issues were important to the local Floridians, particularly in the surrounding context of the COVID-19 pandemic was extremely interesting. The internship also highlighted just how much work goes into a congressional campaign, particularly in the most highly contested districts like the one I was working in. The 26th District of Florida is known for flipping from Republican to Democrat election to election. Even though the campaign was not successful, getting that experience and my first taste of American politics was fantastic. The experience also reminded me of my time at St Columba’s, specifically during my A-level politics class. Whilst I have gone on to read politics at university, the intense and detailed study of American politics that I undertook during my A-levels benefited me in the internship. Going into the internship with an already strong understanding of how the American congressional elections work, the importance of them in the overall picture of American politics and how they can impact the executive branch was very helpful. There were so many smaller, more niche topics that I also studied during A-level politics which were very useful for the internship. I would recommend to anyone interested in American politics to take the congressional election cycle as an opportunity to potentially get involved if the right opportunity is advertised.
Jack Ridings C19
OLD COLUMBANS COMPLETE 10K FOR SAMARITANS
In October 2020, James Boult C17 asked Luke Houghton C17, Nathan Shaw C17 and I to join him running the Bedford 10k for the mental health charity, Samaritans.
Samaritans offer a wide range of support for people struggling with personal issues or who need someone to listen to them without judgement or pressure. They offer advice and encouragement to tens of thousands of people every day. Given the difficulties that everyone in the
country has faced over the last 18 months, we all jumped at the opportunity, (even if secretly I was hoping we could raise the money and that the event would be cancelled so I didn’t actually have to do the running part!). Unlike the other three, I am most certainly not a runner. Jokes aside, the opportunity for the four of us to do this run together was such a blessing, at a difficult time for us all with the pandemic and lockdowns looming. We often did our training together, a particular memory was when Luke, James and I got absolutely drenched in the rain. I think we will plan our next charity run for the summer, although England’s weather this summer hasn’t been much to boast about. The training runs gave us the opportunity to open up to each other about the struggles we were going through, and to support one another during the runs and to deal with our problems. In addition, the mental benefits of physical exercise cannot be underestimated, and I would recommend everyone in the Columban community to try and do just ten minutes of exercise a day as it has such a positive impact on your health.
Eventually the day did arrive, and it became clear that we were going to have to run. We made the trip up to the Bedford autodrome and the four of us set off on the track to complete our 10k in very respectable times. I feel as if we added a 4th C of competitiveness to the 3 Columban Cs as having started running together, it quickly became apparent that it would turn into a race eventually. Sadly, that title went to Nathan on the day. The main reason for doing the run was to raise awareness and money for the incredible Samaritans charity. Cases of mental health have sky-rocketed during COVID-19 and their volunteers work tirelessly to help everyone they can. We managed to raise £530 for the charity and we would like to thank everyone who donated to our cause. It is so important that we all talk to one another about any issues we are having and I encourage anyone who is struggling, to take advantage of amazing charities such as Samaritans, as well as family, friends or teachers to help share any burdens you may be facing. Thank you again to the Columban community for the support they have shown us with this fundraiser.
Ben Scott C17
Lyons Family Complete Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge for MND
On Saturday 7th August, younger members of the family of Michael Lyons completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. They completed it under 12 hours despite some good old fashioned British rain, and have so far raised an incredible £8400. Mike was a geography teacher at St Columba’s for 34 years, before retiring in 2018. Having been inspired to become a teacher by a wonderful Geography teacher that he had at school, Mike joined St Columba’s in 1984. He handed in his application in person to make sure that the school knew how much he wanted to join. He says that the community feel of the school, his colleagues and the Brothers, including Brother Paul, Brother Normand and Brother Nelson, made it a unique and welcoming place to work. Mike speaks of his love and enjoyment of teaching Geography here and still looks back very fondly on the many students, classes and tutor groups that he came across. Some of his favourite memories from his time at St Columba’s include taking GCSE and A Level groups to field trips in Malham in the Yorkshire Dales, Lake District, Devon, France and Spain. As well as his involvement in music at the school including playing in the school Jazz Band. Mike is an ardent guitar player and music lover, and over the years he also played in a fundraising folk band and the band for school musicals. He talks about the privilege of being able to play with, as he describes them, ‘phenomenal musicians’.
Mike was sadly diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in May 2021. MND is a rare neurological disease that affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, and can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe. It is a rapidly progressing disease that currently has no cure. If you would like to donate to the Lyons family Just Giving page, please go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ mikelyons. Any and all donations will be gratefully received, and Mike’s family would like to thank the many people from the St Columba’s community that have already donated. Mike says that reading so many thoughtful messages from former students and colleagues has really lifted his spirits over these past few months.
