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Senior Knocks on Doors for Congresswoman’s Reelection Bid

By Daniel Langhorne
For Ethan Ball ’23, an intense interest in politics sprang from an unusual source—a math class.

In 2020, Ethan enrolled in a Duke University online course on real-world applications of mathematics. A lesson required Ethan to use math to determine if a U.S. congressional district was unfairly gerrymandered. He has been hooked on politics ever since.

A passion for electoral reform and climate change motivated Ethan to intern for the reelection campaign for Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) last summer ahead of what is expected to be a close race.

“Just being a teenager and a young person, I’m going to be living in this world for a long time and I’d like to see it be safe and clean and happy for everyone,” Ethan said.

After undergoing a brief training on how to interact with voters and ask them to volunteer, Ethan was dispatched with a team to knock on doors in Costa Mesa.

“I was very scared. I didn’t really want to go knock on doors and be face to face with people,” Ethan said.

Nobody came to the door at the first few homes Ethan visited. When someone did answer the door, he held a script in front of his face and introduced himself as an intern with Katie Porter for Congress.

“It was a very positive first experience and I feel like I would have been very scared to canvas for a while if it hadn’t,” he said.

Ethan estimates he has since knocked on 2,000 doors for the campaign. Even after returning to Sage Hill for his final year and being named as a Sage Hill Athlete of the Week for his Cross Country performance in September, Ethan keeps up with a weekly goal of knocking on 100 doors in Costa Mesa.

Ethan said he's learning resilience from instances where residents are less receptive and closed their door.

This summer was Ethan’s second stint assisting Porter’s reelection after joining the 2021 Democracy Summer fellowship program coordinated by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
 
“Ethan proved to be a leader amongst his peers, and mentored our 16 fellows through the process of practicing and nailing down pivotal aspects of electoral field organizing, including phone banking, canvassing, and text banking. We appreciate Ethan learning the ropes alongside our field organizers and contributing to volunteer management and recruitment, and hope his experience was and continues to be a fruitful one with the Katie Porter for Congress field team,” said Isabel Song, DCCC organizing director for California’s 47th Congressional District.
 
Despite her busy legislative and campaign schedule, Porter has personally thanked Ethan and his fellow campaign volunteers for their hard work. Porter recognizes Ethan as one of her interns—she’s asked him to hold her signature whiteboard at an event while she posed for photos with supporters.

“As one of her constituents, it is really neat to have this personal connection,” Ethan said.

Ethan isn’t entirely sure what career path he wants to pursue but plans to apply to colleges with political science programs so one day he can work on Capitol Hill.

The Sage Hill Internship Program (SHIP) prepares students with the tools and skills necessary to confidently talk about themselves, their passions, goals and achievements. If you can personally offer an internship, or wish to let us know about a contact, please reach out to SHIP coordinator Verginie Touloumian at TouloumianV@sagehillschool.org or complete our request form.
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