Courtesy of Reuters
A picture of the U.S. Capitol building.Every month, junior Misha Khairom joins a 2-hour afternoon call with local Congressman Sam Liccardo and 60 other teenagers around the Bay Area, discussing her perspective on political issues ranging from health care to AI to wildfires.
As members of the Youth Advisory Committee for California’s 16th congressional district, Khairom and her teammates aim to give Liccardo, a 55-year-old Democrat first elected in 2024, their perspective on these topics to help shape policies.
Khairom initially found the opportunity through her mom, who thought it matched Khairom’s interest in law.
“When I started looking at politics-oriented extracurriculars and my mom showed me this, it seemed like the perfect fit,” Khairom said.
The committee’s monthly meetings take place on a Zoom conference call and typically start with Liccardo presenting a slideshow bringing up different topics and issues in the country. After the presentation, members of the committee split up into smaller discussion groups to explore issues further and brainstorm solutions.
Their latest topic was on how President Donald Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill affects Californians. Khairom specifically focused on how the bill’s policies would affect firefighting, wildfires and artificial intelligence in the state. As part of the research members are required to take on outside of their meetings, Khairom also surveyed locals on AI — the results surprised her.
“I was surprised by how many people didn’t understand the mechanics of AI, like the data centers and how they impact local communities,” she said.
Khairom feels her experience on the committee has continued to remain positive, helping her give back to the community while also deepening her career interests.
“I think the committee is super interesting,” Khairom said. “It’s fun getting to talk about these types of broader issues. Getting to learn about these issues gives me an opportunity to spend more time in activities that give back to our community.”
