Extra Credit: MiVote Town Hall

Friday, October 10, 2008, I log in to my university email and open my inbox. Oh hey, an email from Dr. Roan… Do I want to be on television? Yes, I want to be on television! Let’s see, the taping is on the 27th of October and the broadcast is on the 29th, well that doesn’t sound too bad. Sure, why not? There’s an information meeting scheduled for next Wednesday, ok, cool.

I arrive at room 1227 in the UC at 11:30, I am half an hour early. Within a few minutes I am joined by another nominee for this recording, his name is Tony and we fall easily into conversation. Tony is a nice guy and is really comfortable to talk with, he puts you right at ease. Tony is a former auto-worker and received an opportunity to go back to school a few years ago, he is in his 30s, married, and his wife used to work in the auto industry as well. They live literally two miles from my house, “He’ll be really good for this,” I think to myself. After a few more minutes we notice nobody else is here. Did we get the time wrong? The email definitely said 12 o’clock in room 1227 in the UC. Where is everybody? Oh well, I guess we’ll wait a few more minutes. About that time a gray-haired gentleman pops his head in the door and asks us, “You here for the PBS meeting?”

“Yes,” we say in unison.

“Oh, well the meeting’s next door.”

Well ok then. We gather our things and move down the hall. Whoa there are a lot more people here than I expected. I thought this was going to be a student meeting with a few faculty members to discuss the taping. Not so, the PBS producers, the vice chancellor, and number of students and various faculty members all sit around the table. Whoever is speaking suddenly stops as we walk in the door, and everyone turns and looks at us, I feel oddly conspicuous. My libs professor, Dr. Smith is here, the look of surprise on his face is priceless. I soon find out that he is the key conductor of this whole thing. “As I was saying…” the speaker continues. I take a seat and someone hands me an outline of how the program is going to be arranged. The producer for PBS, gah! What is his name? says something and all of a sudden I’m asking a question. Oh man, bad move, everyone is looking at me expecting something brilliant. I don’t remember much of what happens after that, but I’m invited to come to the next meeting. Why is everything such a blur?

Tuesday rolls around and I find myself back in 1225, I arrive early, and there are a lot more people here this time. Everyone finds a seat, we all receive an updated program outline and hang on! Wait, this can’t be right? This paper says the 29th of October, at 9 p.m.? We are informed that Senator Barack Obama has bought our air time and is going to produce an “infomercial”, essentially, in the attempt to sway undecided voters just days before the election! We are told that we are going to be broadcasting live directly after Obama’s spot. Things just got interesting. I, for one, totally did not see this one coming! The meeting progresses, everyone is in a buzz, I find myself speaking again. Why on earth do I open my mouth? All of a sudden I have the health care spot. Ahhh! Wait! No! I mean…Yes! BUT! What am I supposed to say? “Oh, we don’t know what questions Devin (as in Scillian) will be asking, it’s live, we’ll just roll with it.” Crap! What the heck am I doing? I can’t do this. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t. Shut up! Yes you can. You can and you will. Sure you’re nervous, but the experience will be good for you. You might not ever receive an opportunity like this again. It is the most significant election in this country’s history. You are going to do this. Whew. Ok. I feel better. I also feel slightly disturbed that such a transaction went on in my head, am I mentally stable? Probably not. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. I’m just gonna “roll with it.”

Wednesday rolls around. Tonight’s the big night. I am so nervous! I’m nervous all through class and the “jitters” continue throughout my entire day at work. My coworkers are sympathetic to my anxious state of mind and are especially nice to me.

The day drags on and on and on and on and on and on. Will five o’clock never come? I have to be at the school by 7:30, Obama’s infomercial starts at 8, and the broadcast beings at 9. I get off work and I try to prepare myself as best I can. I know practically every detail about each candidate’s health care plan, and I play all these possible scenarios in my head. What am I going to say?? I sit down on my bed. I am tired. All of a sudden my phone rings! What’s going on? It’s dark, I’m lying down, and my face is in my pillow, was I sleeping??! Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no! It’s Cristobal from my libs class; Dr. Smith made the broadcast an extra credit assignment in an attempt to get more people to show up.

“Hello?” I murmur.

“Hey,” he says

“What’s up?”

“Ummm are you going to that MiVote thing tonight?”

Crap. “Uh, yeah, I think I’ll be there.”

“Ok, cool. Just wondering.”

“Yep, I’m coming….hey Cris?”

“Yeah?”

“What time is it?”

“It’s 6:45.”

Dang it. “Ok thanks. See you in a bit.”

“M’kay.”

“Bye.”

I jump out of bed and stumble over to my closet. What am I going to wear? I have no idea. I glance at my mirror; my hair is a hot mess. I fell asleep? Really, Raquel? Really? That’s great. That’s just great. I’m supposed to be leaving now.

I get out the door by 7, a small miracle, and arrive at precisely 7:30. I walk over to the people who appear to be in charge and they direct me to the producer, “I’m your handler,” he says. He walks me through the program. I am the next to last segment, right after Iraq and right before stem cell research. He introduces me to John Popovich, Senior Vice President for Clinical Affairs Chair, Department of Internal Medicine, at Henry Ford hospital. He’s the expert on the panel. We converse for a moment and I find a seat over by Tony and Carrie. We talk about nerves for a little bit then move on to something else. Normal things. How’s your wife, how’s your family type questions. A white-haired gentleman walks over, “Excuse me is this seat taken?” He asks. I tell him no, have a seat. He looks very familiar. I introduce myself. “I’m Dan Little,” he says. Light bulb goes off. “I’m the Chancellor here.” I exclaim that of course I know who he is and that I’ve never seen him quite so close before. He chuckles and we talk about school, we talk about his granddaughter, we talk about his Ph.D. from Harvard. I am amazed at the accessibility we students have to the staff here. He is so nice and puts me right at ease. I am no longer nervous. We watch the infomercial, and the mayhem begins. People scramble around everywhere, Devin practices his opening a few times and the producer gives us and the audience another run down of the show. Nine o’clock arrives and we begin. The first segment is a reaction to the Obama slot, and the second is on the economy. Tony is on this panel and he does extremely well. Time goes by. The Iraq War segment ends and we all rush up to the stage. The chairs are tall, I’m in a straight skirt and stilettos. Oh, please don’t fall… ok, in the chair, no major mishaps, a lady hands me a lapel mic and says something about sticking it under my jacket? She moves on, I make an attempt to secure and conceal the tiny microphone and apparently fail because next thing I know a guy is taking it and running it up my shirt. AWKWARD! Someone shouts “30 seconds!” What is taking this guy so long??? Done. “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, point.” Devin starts talking and directs his first question to me. Everything is a blur after that. All of a sudden it’s over. I’m back in my seat and the Chancellor says, “Great job!” Did I stutter? Did I say “um” a lot? Did I even make sense? I have no idea. Whatever. It was definitely a cool experience and a few of my friends text messaged me later and said I was on the news. I watched the video later and I said “Um/uh” eight times, my nose looks ridiculous on camera, but I already knew that, and my father made me smile randomly during the segment. Overall it was a great experience, I just wish I remembered more of it. :)