First Colonial students talk with General Brent Scowcroft in Washington D.C.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe students would put all of their passion for foreign policy to work, spending hours preparing for these meetings; studying the decisions on which these men advised as well as the historical ramifications of those actions.<\/p>\n
Originally, the high schoolers were scheduled for 20-30 minute meetings. However, in every case, the meetings were extended \u2013 if not doubled – because of how impressed the men were by the students\u2019 interest, composure and knowledge.<\/p>\n
Zac Freeman, one of the founders of the club and veteran of the trips, said it was important to the group that they were as prepared as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very competitive to get an hour with these people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
From Iraq and 9\/11 to Syria and Russia, the students were able to glean key insight into a world of decision making and analysis simply not covered in a textbook.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really connecting the dots,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou learn things you never are going to learn in the classroom,\u201d said Aaron Kubat, the youngest member of the group \u2013 a rising junior in the LSA. \u201cTo meet these people is an honor and a privilege we may never get again. It\u2019s surreal. It\u2019s unbelievable. It\u2019s indescribable.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, if you\u2019re Lewis, who happened to be running for senior class president at the time \u2013 it\u2019s extremely fortuitous. He wasted no time in asking Rumsfeld for his official endorsement of his campaign.<\/p>\n
Rumsfeld agreed, but Lewis was stopped short of filming a campaign video on his phone.<\/p>\n
For their part, Sutton and the underclassmen have no plans in stopping their annual journeys to the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
In fact, they have already confirmed meetings with President Bill Clinton\u2019s Press Secretary Mike McCurray, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for next year. This is thanks, in part, to the students before them who have set the standard<\/p>\n
\u201cWord is spreading,\u201d Sutton said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got this network of people that are interested in speaking with our students because they\u2019re so impressive and they don\u2019t waste anyone\u2019s time. \u201d<\/p>\n
Yet, even these impressive students still cannot believe what their working group has become.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt keeps getting better,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cOriginally, we weren\u2019t even thinking that big. In no way did we anticipate this. I cannot wait to come back and see who they\u2019re meeting and see the pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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