Eshoo’s kids: Youth from around the Bay Area gather to advise congresswoman

698 Emerson Street, Palo Alto. This is the office address of the 14th district congresswoman Anna Eshoo.

The 10th-term Democrat has a Student Advisory Board (SAB) that convenes every other Wednesday at her office in Palo Alto. The goal of the SAB is to provide a forum of representation for the youth of the 14th district.

The SAB consists of high school students from around the San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Districts. Applications are accepted once a year.

Each year, a broad topic is chosen to focus on. For instance, last year the topic was education.

This year, the 48 students on the SAB have chosen to work to improve civil liberties in the 14th district.

They split into different groups based on their interests and focus their efforts on a specific issue (health care, education etc.). By the end of the school year, each group will write a research paper on their topic for the congresswoman.

Senior Varsha Ramesh has been on the board for a year now, having heard about SAB from a friend several years ago.

“I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get involved in government and is ready for some good discussions,” Ramesh said. “It’s definitely been hard sometimes to get all the way to Palo Alto for meetings, but the discussions are fun!”

Archbishop Mitty Senior Sruthi Ramaswami, chair of the board, has also been on the SAB since her junior year.

“I have been very interested in politics and youth advocacy since my freshman year,” Ramaswami said. “After creating the Mitty Advocacy Project (mittyadvocacy.wordpress.com), the first student-run legislative group to be created in California, I wanted to explore policy-making further.”

As Ramesh continues to work for the congresswoman, she said she plans to continue to learn from her peers and further her interest in political science.

“I love knowing the congresswoman cares about student voice and [that] I’m able to share my interest in politics with peers who are equally interested in them.”