When U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address in Washington on Tuesday, among the attendees will be a Keralite school student.
Uma Menon, a student of Winter Park High School, Florida, will be in the audience when Mr. Trump delivers the speech before a joint session of Congress.
The 15-year-old girl got the opportunity to be a guest at Mr. Trump’s second State of the Union address after winning the State of the Union essay contest organised by Democrat Stephanie Murphy.
Daughter of Thrissur natives Ramkumar Menon and Shailaja Alat, engineer and entrepreneurs in Orlando, Uma does not want to follow in her parents’ footsteps. She wants to make a mark in politics. Uma wants to be a part of the campaign of California Senator Kamala Harris, who is of Indian and African descent, if she wins the Democratic nomination for the presidential election in 2020.
Besides listening to Mr. Trump’s speech, Uma says she will like to make use of the opportunity to bring together other members of Congress with student-youth leaders like her.
Vice president of her school’s speech and debate team and Florida Regional President for the Future Business Leaders of America, Uma is also a writer. Her first poetry chapbook was published last month.
Awareness
Uma’s essay showed the awareness among youth of American politics and democratic process, said Ms. Murphy, organiser of the contest and chair of Future Forum, a group of young House Democrats who advocate issues and opportunities important to younger Americans.
Uma’s relatives in Kerala are excited about the opportunity that she has received, particularly her aunt, Shyama Balachandran, associate professor at the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation.
