Day 5: Tuesday, August 20
Today was my day to speak and it was with White House staffers, needless to say I was very nervous. I had only been able to decide what I wanted to say the night before and was worried that I would mess it up. I decided to talk about how I understand the ultimate goal is reunite the children with their parents, but in some circumstances, that isn’t the best option for the child. I spoke to staff from the White House Domestic Policy Council about the importance for the State to take more action to make sure the parents have fixed their problems before they are able to take on the role of the parents again. All the speakers for the day did a great job, raising issues such as mine and wanting to hear more of the child’s voice when it comes to making choices about their life. The voice of the foster youth should be one of the loudest ones heard.
After the meeting the group took some great pictures in front of the White House, which is a great sight to see. After that a small group of students and I went to the Holocaust Museum. It was very moving and got emotional at times. The Museum was very informational and a great experience to see. At night another small group of students and I walked around DC and looked at some of the monuments all lit up. It was a lot of fun and was so beautiful. The Washington Monument stands tall and when it is lit up, it just makes it seem that much taller. Another great monument we saw on our night walk was the Lincoln Memorial. The statue of him was so beautiful and it was amazing to read his presidential speech and Gettysburg Address speech that was engraved in the wall. Tuesday was a packed and very fun day.

Written by Michael Marotta, WMU Seita Scholar, Senior