An Alternative Way to Be Active

Welcome to the coolest and most important blog of the summer! We’re the coolest and most important people of the summer. This is Matthew Kurs-Lasky. And this is Gina Baratta. First, we’ll tell you a little about ourselves. I’m (Matthew) a junior Marketing major at the University of Maryland (Go Terps!), I was born in Pittsburgh, and I like playing (and winning) racquetball in my spare time. Hey! It’s Gina here. I just graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Political Science, I love the windy city of Chicago (I’ll be moving there in the fall), and I’m a huge Red Wings fan. (Matthew is still bitter that his Penguins lost.)

The days are becoming longer, the pools are open, and our summers have begun. How are we going to keep ourselves busy? Some of our friends will be sleeping until noon, watching endless reruns on TV, and sitting at home repeatedly checking the internet. Boring! While the summer is time for us to relax, both of us have realized the importance of doing something worthwhile with our time. We’ve found a way to mix our interests with worthwhile opportunities. This summer we’re both interning with a non-profit organization (Youth Service America) here in our nation’s capital, focusing on ways to get and keep young people engaged civically. Our work in the office will allow us to learn the resources and tools needed to enable others to be involved with service and civic activities. Since we will be living, working, and playing in DC all summer long, we will keep you current on everything you’ll need to know leading up to something very important, Election ’08. We’ll be posting our happenings for the summer, but we want to learn about you too! What are you doing to be active—politically or civically? Do you have any tips for others?

Keeping it cool.
Matthew and Gina