Interview with Lavina Sabnani

After traveling more than 12 hours to be here at UCLA, Lavina, who currently lives in Warsaw, Poland and is going to be a senior in high school this coming year, gave me the opportunity to interview her. She writes about political speeches in her blog and it's so interesting to learn about the topics she discusses. (http://politicalspeechessummerd2013.blogspot.com) We spoke for a while about her likes and dislikes, her interests, etc. She explained to me that although she had never looked into politics and government before, she took an AP government course and was intrigued and fascinated by it all. Since then, she has loved studying this and while she is here at UCLA, it gives her a great opportunity to look into other countries' government and politics, different from those in Poland. As a Polish student, Lavina says that while she's here at UCLA, or in her school, which is an American school, she is able to look at the bigger picture and see how globalized US politics are and how similar and different they are to the politics in Poland. In both the United States and Poland, there are formally multi-partied systems. In the U.S. the government is mostly dominated by two parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, and less seen are parties such as the Green party, etc. Sabnani states, "In Poland, all parties are equally present, with a Prime Minister, as well as President, who share similarly equal power". When asked why she was here at UCLA for the Summer, she responded by saying that she was so excited to just see California and to have a chance to check out the campus of UCLA. She explained to me that she doesn't plan on coming here for college, she would rather go to a school on the East Coast or in the United Kingdom, so this was a fabulous opportunity for her to do so. This Summer, Lavina is taking two courses, Psychology and News and Media in the 21st Century. She chose to take Psychology because it would be a good recap for her IB psych class and so that she could remember the foundations of the subject for when she returns to school. She decided to take this class because she is interested in newscasting, news, and censorship. When she's not at home studying, Lavina is participating in so many extra curricular activities. These include, Model U.N., cheerleader, spirit squad member, student government, student ambassador, member of multiple committees and clubs, etc. She also participates in three varsity sports, softball, track, and soccer, and plays badminton outside of school. She also shared with me how much she loves community service. She said, "Every Sunday, I go to the local pet shelter to volunteer and it's so special for me because it's where I got my dog". Lavina also loves to read classics in her very limited free time. Lavina says, "Some of my favorite books include, the Secret Garden and the Great Gatsby". She goes on to explain to me what stresses her out most, living up to her parent's expectations, and of course school and thinking about college. I'm so glad that I was able to interview Lavina and learn so much about her!