Your Secret Superpower: How to Play to Your Advantages in Politics

Zach Ng

March 13, 2019

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One of the greatest teachers in STEM history once said that, “Being able to say: hi, I’m a high school student. Could you help me with this? Is one of the most powerful things”. Dr. Podell was right, especially in the world of politics. In my high school career, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to utilize Dr. Podell’s advice and I encourage anyone remotely interested in politics to do the same. Being a high school student, people are compelled to help you, especially those much older than you.

Just a little background on me: in my sophomore year, I began my “political career” by petitioning to support Dr. Ruff. The experience and skills were enough to land me an internship at the Chester County Democratic Committee, pioneering and administering social media accounts. In junior year, I helped launch Diwali for Downingtown (petitioning for Diwali as a school holiday) and joined Chrissy Houlahan for Congress as a finance and field intern when I was then transferred to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in the summer. Coincidentally, I met future State Senator Katie Muth there and began to work for her as a finance intern. At the start of senior year, Danny Kelly, Sophie Grudzinski, Lais Santoro and I pioneered the STEM Academy Democrats. After a few months, I was elected by the High School Democrats of Pennsylvania as Vice President. Being a high schooler in politics, you have special powers and I’m here to tell you how I’ve used them and how you can do the same.

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Stereotypically, politics has been filled with much older people. In my experience, much of that has been true but even those who are younger still love to help high schoolers. As youths in the 2010s (and for some of you the 2020s), we are incredibly tech-savvy compared to those who already work in politics. While I’m no Instagram model, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to run various social media accounts for political organizations through internships.

The strategy I’ve found to get the most value out of jobs and internships is twofold: adding value and networking. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve instituted and managed social media accounts for local political organizations like the Chester County Democratic Committee and Chrissy Houlahan for Congress. Upon my arrival, the people who worked there did not know how to operate social media or didn’t have the time. After identifying this weakness, I used my strengths to add value to the organization by offering to create and administer accounts and train others how to use them. Supervisors definitely appreciated the value that I added, which plays into the second part of the strategy: networking. Proving competency and being reliable, friendly and personable can go a long way to building a professional network. Everyone has probably heard MEA stress the value of networking and they’re 100% right. Every internship or opportunity I’ve taken has led to an opportunity to another. For example, I got an opportunity to work for Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.

On the note of competency, I think this area is where STEM students can shine. I used to sit across from a fellow intern who was a grad school student at Chrissy Houlahan for Congress and I, only a junior at the time, was more competent. The bar is lower than one thinks. Many people underestimate the abilities of a high schooler, which plays to one’s advantage. Don’t doubt yourself because if you have the courage to step outside your comfort zone, your potential to grow as a person vastly expands. Just a silly example: I had stranger phone anxiety. I hated talking to people on the phone and I hated talking to strangers but after practicing that skill set hundreds of times in politics, my anxiety dissipated.

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Working in politics is unique because of the power; the power to share your voice with the world in order to change it for the better is something many of us STEM kids want, and politics can be that vehicle. Our society is oddly fixated on what young people have to say, and with a refined and educated message, your voice can go a long way.

No matter what you want to be in the future (or what you think you want to be), whether that’s an engineer or doctor, I recommend getting involved in politics in high school. If you have the slightest passion for anything, whether that’s women’s rights, environmentalism, gun control/rights, civil rights, or if you want to be a doctor maybe you want the government to fund more research in rare diseases; give politics a shot. Politics is an opportunity for you to share your voice and develop your skills in leadership, communication, professional etiquette, and public speaking. Being a high schooler in politics has allowed me to start new clubs, organizations and run large existing ones, get over my phone and stranger anxiety, develop my public speaking skills, build a network, meet amazing people, and practice persuasive rhetoric. My experiences have taught me the inner-workings of the political campaign system, allowed me to meet amazing people and do so much more. Politics is so important because, as Dr. Podell used to say, “government is the only entity that has the legal monopoly on the use of force,” meaning that policy affects literally everything. No matter what you want to spend your life doing, I guarantee that politics affects that, so why not give it a try while you have those special powers as a high schooler?