Thursday, May 26, 2011

My First City Council Meeting

I am 16 going on 17, and I have always lived in the city of Hercules, Ca. I attended Tiny Tots and Pre-school in Hercules. I attended Hercules Elementary School until it was renamed Lupine Hills Elementary School, and as a fifth grader I was part of the first ever graduating class of Lupines Hills. I went on to attend Hercules Middle School and now, I am a junior at Hercules High School.
That’s why I understand if it seems a little bit unusual that the May 24th Hercules City Council meeting was the first one I’ve ever attended.

I could feel sad about that, but I’m just happy that I finally went to one.

I was told that as an ILC student, I was expected to say a few words at the meeting. I still don’t know how to prepare a speech, so I didn’t attempt to write a “legit speech”. I ended up just talking about how I felt again and I did get a few laughs, which I hear is a good thing.
The day after the meeting, Beilul Naizghi and I were sitting in our A period journalism class when our teacher Natalie Wojinski (who is a Hercules resident) praised us for doing a good job at the Council meeting. She had watched the entire thing on television. This came as somewhat of a surprise for us, even though both of us obviously knew that many people watch these meetings. For me, it was just the fact that someone we knew, someone we see and talk to everyday, had watched us speak. I guess it was an eye-opener, because at the actual City Council meeting, the Hercules City Council members had also listened both intently and graciously. People actually care about what we have to say.

Posted by Terilyn at 5:46 PM

1 comment:

  1. Don GosneyMay 26, 2011 at 9:15 PM

    Teri,

    Speaking from the heart and just talking to your audience can often be a much more effective tool than reading from a prepared speech. There are times when the prepared speech works better and sometimes it depends on the orator but I usually advise our ILCers to just talk whenever they can.

    You did a great job and if you look at the posted photos here you'll see that wonderful smile you're so famous for. That should tell you something about how comfortable you were.

    You shouldn't be surprised that your teacher watched you and your cohorts. These events are more popular on TV than people might imagine.

    And yes, people were paying attention and were listening to what you had to say. Come to think of it, I may have heard that somewhere before. I know, it came out of my mouth when I spoke to after you were selected--both this year and last. And now all of a sudden you're getting it. Will no one ever listen to me? :-)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)