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March 2, 2001/Adar 7, 5761, Vol. 53, No.22
Local teen experiences life in nation's capitol
BETH OLSON
Editorial Assistant
Matthew Ahearn of Phoenix was recently in Washington, D.C., writing an amendment to an education bill. He is not a politician, but rather, a 17-year-old junior at Brophy College Preparatory, attending a National Young Leaders Conference (NYLC).
The NYLC offers students with leadership potential and scholastic achievement the opportunity to spend six days in Washington, meeting with members of the government, participating in role-playing activities and sightseeing.
Ahearn was recommended for the program by faculty members at his high school. He then attended the conference with two other Brophy students, Feb. 13-18.
Ahearn says that the most educational part of the trip focused on role-playing activities - three simulations that presented real-life situations for each of the three branches of the federal government. In the executive branch simulation, Ahearn and a group of 22 students acted as the president and cabinet members responding to a crisis situation.
A simulation of an actual Supreme Court case had the students acting as justices and attorneys.
Ahearn says the most involved of the simulations was the model Congress, in which the group examined an actual education bill.
"Our group was a caucus with certain ideas and our job was to have the bill amended - change some things to make it fit in our favor. There were eight other caucuses, and then there were committees, and there was leadership for each of the parties," he explains.
The group wrote the bill and the amendments, attended committee hearings and voted. Ahearn's job in the model Congress was to write an amendment for his group.
"I learned so much about how the government works. You get taught how the system works, but you don't really understand it until you're there - you see it happening," Ahearn says.
Also meaningful for Ahearn, he says, was the opportunity to meet with political leaders, including one of Bill Clinton's top advisors, and meeting students from across the country who were involved in the conference.
Though Ahearn enjoyed his experience, he doesn't see politics in his own future. He is a pianist and gives piano lessons as an after-school job.
"I'm really involved in music," he says. "I want to go study about the recording and producing aspect - that's what really interests me."
He plans to apply to Berklee College of Music in Boston and perhaps to Northwestern University in Illinois, as well.
Ahearn is active at Brophy. A former baseball player, he currently plays football and is a member of National Honor Society and President's Men.
Ahearn lives with his parents, Gayle and Mike, and his 15-year-old sister, Melissa, a student at Sunnyslope High School.
For more information about the National Young Leaders Conference, visit the Web site at www.nylc.org.
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