JMCHS student participates in Washington Week
SALT LAKE CITY — A week in Washington allowed a Judge Memorial Catholic High School student to meet Republican and Democratic leaders as well as a personal hero.
JMCHS senior Savannah Cali Harlan was one of the two students who joined Senator Mike Lee and Senator Mitt Romney in representing Utah during the United States Senate Youth Program’s 61st annual Washington Week, March 4-10.
Harlan was selected from among the state’s top student leaders to be among the 104 student delegates.
“It was a very, very impactful opportunity,” Harlan said, noting that she has held leadership positions at Judge Memorial for the past three years “but I think there was something special about getting selected for this program.”
Representing Judge Memorial and the Utah Catholic schools was also “really gratifying,” said Harlan, who serves as an elected senior core member of the JMCHS Student Council. Last summer, she represented Utah as a senate page, which allowed her to work and learn on the Senate floor.
“In the classroom, she has been able to advocate for other students as a peer minister,” her nomination stated. “Savannah has also been able to use her political activism as an ambassador for the Utah Period Project and has made an impact on her school by founding the Female Alliance Club. As president of her school’s Rotary Interact Club, she spearheaded several service projects and has also volunteered as a classroom intern at The Children’s Center of Utah.”
A friend’s encouragement inspired Harlan to apply for Washington Week. The friend had been a finalist in a previous program, “but didn’t make it to Washington, but he encouraged me to apply,” she said.
When she looked up the process she found applications were due that same day, so she immediately went to her counselor, because the nomination had to come directly from the school.
“I asked her if she could please do the process really fast and she said ‘of course’ … so I was able to get that nomination at the last moment,” Harlan said.
The process also required her to document her service hours, and submit a few recommendation letters as well as her school transcript and grades. She also wrote an essay. She then received an invitation to the Utah state competition that took place at the State Capitol last year. There she had to present essays, participate in a round-table discussion and create an improv speech. In the end, she was named a finalist for the program.
Like other finalists, Harlan has outstanding leadership abilities, a strong commitment to volunteer work and ranked academically in the top 1 percent of the state among high school juniors and seniors.
The week in Washington included attending meetings and briefings with senators, the president, the Supreme Court justices and leaders of cabinet agencies. She also met the Senate historian and visited her Pentagon Space Force military mentor, among other activities.
The meeting that struck Harlan the most was with Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
“She has been a personal hero of mine for a long time,” Harlan said, adding that hearing the answers that she gave to their questions “as well as her advice was very special.”
The experience taught her that people can work together no matter their political affiliation, she said.
“One of the things that was really cool about it was that we met with people of both sides of the political aisle. ... We got to see how people can discuss things that they don’t always agree with, and learn more about the other side,” she said. “Bipartisanship is possible and there is hope that in the future we all can get along and get stuff done.”
Pursuing her dream has been a long journey, Harlan said. “Part of what I wrote in my application was that when I was younger I was diagnosed with some learning disabilities and I never saw myself as a student,” but as she grew up she realized that if she worked hard and kept her passion alive she could succeed.
“No matter what you are going through, no matter that sometimes you may feel that you cannot do it, you can,” she said. “Don’t put yourself into a box; you can always achieve what you want to achieve.”
The USSYP was created by Utah Senate Resolution 324 in 1962 and has been sponsored by the Senate and fully funded by The Hearst Foundations since its inception.
In addition to the week in Washington, Harlan will receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study. She would like to major in political science before attending law school.
“I have always had a passion to help others – those who might feel oppressed or discriminated against,” she said. “It was something that even when I was little, I always wanted to do.”
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