Elizabeth Resner
Born in 2003 in Boston, MA, Elizabeth Resner is currently a rising Senior at Boston Latin School. Her interest in public service is twofold, as it represents an opportunity both for contributing to her community and interacting with the various legal and legislative chambers of government.
Starting in 2009, Elizabeth and her family have been a host family for the Boston non-profit Hospitalities Homes. In this program, families with an extra bedroom can provide short or long term housing to those getting healthcare in Boston and their loved ones. Through this, Elizabeth met dozens of people from across the country and world, and became acutely aware of the challenges they often faced with getting healthcare, coming to a new country, or supporting a loved one through medical treatment. Her family dinners were often spent with Hospitality Homes guests, and topics ranged from cancer treatment in Germany to riding the MBTA. Her experiences meeting people from across the globe, and realizing the deep, positive impact that her family had by opening up their home, cemented a feeling of social responsibility to find a pathway that focused on helping other people.
For Elizabeth, public service not only includes the aforementioned aspect of community contribution, but also the opportunity to work with the legal field. Law and politics were two important fascinations for her, and her father emphasized this to her at age five by refusing to leave a voting line until his vote was cast after waiting for hours on end. This experience of waiting in line for hours to vote – though tiring and a bit boring – made an election that seemed otherwise distant to a young child much more real and important. Her interest in politics only grew after, and at BLS she participated in Model UN and Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC), the latter of which she is now the Co-President of.
Elizabeth is excited to be working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority Director Jack McCarthy this summer, and hopes to gain valuable experience and insight into the processes of such an organization.