As the snow piles on in Boston, the determination and vitality of the Up to Simmons Team is far from muffled. Despite snow storms and class cancelations, there are few people at Simmons College that have yet to hear about the Up to Simmons initiative. Throughout the month of February the Up to Simmons campaign has been in full swing; tabling, talking, and showing students why a conversation about national debt is important. As the Team Leader for the initiative, I am so proud of what my team has accomplished.

While a lot of amazing opportunities and conversations have come out of the Up to Simmons initiative, by far the best part of the competition for me has been the overwhelming support we have received from the Economics Department, the Administration, and, of course, my fellow teammates. I don’t think I have ever been more proud to be a Simmons Student than throughout this campaign. I always knew how passionate and hardworking my peers were, but in the midst of all of the challenges we have faced throughout the campaign, my team never lost sight of our goal: to educate the Simmons Community about the U.S. economy and show congressmen that millennials care about fiscal policy.

In the past three weeks, despite still not having a full week of classes due to snow, the Simmons team has received over 120 signatures on the Up to Us pledge and has sent out multiple hand-written letters from students to congressmen across the nation. We have handed out around a hundred personalized flyers showing different majors how national debt might affect them and started conversations across campus about fiscal policy. This is not to mention the amazing events we have held this month; playing Jeopardy in the Student Government Forum and celebrating My Two Cents Day, an event where students shared their “Two Cents” about national debt with congressmen through letters, and their peers through social media.

Looking back at this experience, I will never forget how amazing Simmons College is for the support of the professors and administration, the engagement of my peers, and the teamwork of my friends on the core team that made this campaign possible.