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Prompt: Imagine looking through a window at any environment that is particularly significant to you. Reflect on the scene, paying close attention to the relation between what you are seeing and why it is meaningful to you. Please limit your statement to 300 words. (Mine is at 340 right now...where can I cut down?)
I look back through the plate-glass windows, and excitedly wave goodbye to the six state troopers standing stoically on the other side. If you had told me three hours earlier that my visit to the Senate Offices would warrant an armed escort out of the building, I would have laughed. Who would have guessed that my first run-in with the police took place while I was fighting (civilly) for gay rights?
I had traveled to Albany with a mini-consortium of human rights groups representing Empire State Pride Agenda to lobby for marriage equality. The group had one mission that afternoon: to locate our ever-elusive Senator Dean Skelos. The illustrious congressman had been dodging e-mails and phone calls for weeks but we were undeterred. With unabashed excitement, our political science version of "Where's Waldo?" began.
With wide eyes, his staffers informed us that the Senator was on the floor for a vote followed by a full calendar of meetings in his "other" office. Thanking them, we set out for the Senate floor to await his departure from voting. After the last Senator exited we figured out that he had exited a side door. Sneaky Waldo. With heightened enthusiasm, the group set out for the Senator's second office. One escalator, two grand staircases, an aged elevator, and an impossibly long hallway brought us face to face with two State Troopers outside the Senator's office. Found Waldo!
The scene became completely ridiculous when four additional state troopers and six senate guards materialized; it became apparent we were unwelcomed visitors. The News 1 crew disagreed: they proceeded to interview each of my fellow group members, disregarding the uniformed men. It was the first time I had witnessed, or even participated in a civil protest, and here I was, viewed as a key member! Bob, one of the troopers, decided to pursue the route of sore loser, though, giving my interview an abrupt end as he escorted me out of the building. I had survived my first run-in with the "man." Tag, game over.
Prompt: Imagine looking through a window at any environment that is particularly significant to you. Reflect on the scene, paying close attention to the relation between what you are seeing and why it is meaningful to you. Please limit your statement to 300 words. (Mine is at 340 right now...where can I cut down?)
I look back through the plate-glass windows, and excitedly wave goodbye to the six state troopers standing stoically on the other side. If you had told me three hours earlier that my visit to the Senate Offices would warrant an armed escort out of the building, I would have laughed. Who would have guessed that my first run-in with the police took place while I was fighting (civilly) for gay rights?
I had traveled to Albany with a mini-consortium of human rights groups representing Empire State Pride Agenda to lobby for marriage equality. The group had one mission that afternoon: to locate our ever-elusive Senator Dean Skelos. The illustrious congressman had been dodging e-mails and phone calls for weeks but we were undeterred. With unabashed excitement, our political science version of "Where's Waldo?" began.
With wide eyes, his staffers informed us that the Senator was on the floor for a vote followed by a full calendar of meetings in his "other" office. Thanking them, we set out for the Senate floor to await his departure from voting. After the last Senator exited we figured out that he had exited a side door. Sneaky Waldo. With heightened enthusiasm, the group set out for the Senator's second office. One escalator, two grand staircases, an aged elevator, and an impossibly long hallway brought us face to face with two State Troopers outside the Senator's office. Found Waldo!
The scene became completely ridiculous when four additional state troopers and six senate guards materialized; it became apparent we were unwelcomed visitors. The News 1 crew disagreed: they proceeded to interview each of my fellow group members, disregarding the uniformed men. It was the first time I had witnessed, or even participated in a civil protest, and here I was, viewed as a key member! Bob, one of the troopers, decided to pursue the route of sore loser, though, giving my interview an abrupt end as he escorted me out of the building. I had survived my first run-in with the "man." Tag, game over.