As ASDA’s Speaker of the House, I’ve already been able to meet a lot of great people and take part in some super interesting events. This past weekend, I got to attend the American Institute of Parliamentarian’s East Coast Practicum near Washington D.C. where these awesome moments happened:
1) The moment when an instructor spoke about appropriate times to use your gavel, and I see the two parliamentarians sitting closest to me quietly reach into their bags and pull out a gavel AND gavel block.
2) The moment when I got to say, “Objection!” as the chair of the investigatory committee during a mock trial we had for disciplinary action. Finally, watching all those Law and Orders pays off.
3) The moment when I realized that I am getting personal feedback from one of the authors of Robert’s Rules of Orders Newly Revised and an author of The Standard Code (which is what ASDA goes by). Only one of the coolest* moments EVER.
4) The moment when one of our instructors reviewed codes of conduct and various criteria that should guide the governing body when in meetings, and I could go through each of the many points and say with total confidence that the ASDA Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee go by every single one of them. Pretty great to realize that although we are students, we are just as, if not more, professional and top notch as famous, high-profile corporations and organizations.
5) The moment when I realized that even though most of these parliamentarians have decades of experience on me, they value my opinions and presence during the vigorous discussions they have, culminating in asking me to make a speech at the closure of the practicum about my experience there. Talk about decorum.
*The word cool is subjective and in this case refers to unbridled excitement over parliamentary procedure.
~Jiwon Lee, Speaker of the House, Columbia ’14
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