Take a Semester Abroad Right Here at Home

I'd like to give a little shout out to an organization that I think could do a lot of good work this cycle: Swing Semester.

Swing Semester operates under one simple idea: what if you could do a semester abroad here at home? Instead of jetting off to Dublin or Rome and partying your brains out for three months while enrolled in light-weight pass/fail classes, what if you could travel to a battle ground state, receive a crash course in progressive politics (for credit), and make a difference in this Presidential election? Swing Semester exists to help young people do just that.

How does it work?

In short, 250 participants will be sent to cities in one of five battleground states where they will spend 10 weeks living with a host family. Based on their interests, participants will be placed in paid jobs on progressive campaigns or non profits where, for the remainder of the cycle, they will work their asses off for progressive change. They will knock on doors and make phone calls. Canvass concerts and bars and stand on street corners. They will attend trainings and lectures and form a community with their fellow participants, all while studying a for-credit curriculum designed to teach them the contours of the contemporary progressive movement.

Where is the action happening?

Swing Semester is currently operating in the following cities:

• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Denver, Colorado

And they are accepting applications for 6 more:

• Columbus, Ohio
• Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Richmond, Virginia
• Manchester, New Hampshire
• Cleveland, Ohio

If you are between 18 and 26 years of age, and a comprehensive immersion program sounds like it might be your bag, Swing Semester is accepting applications on a rolling basis through the end of the month.

If you are interested in a position as a "Captain" in one of the host cities, Swing Semester is currently accepting job applications for those positions.

A friend of mine tells a story about how he became involved in progressive politics and it boils down to this: In 2000, Florida was decided by a razor thin margin. Less than 400 votes. If he had take time off from school to travel down there, he could have knocked on doors and wrangled that many new voters over the course of a month and made the difference. Swing Semester is giving 250 young progressives the opportunity to do just that.