What an honor it was to be lectured, once again, by Professor and CAUSE Board Member, Dan Schnur. I was Dan’s student at UC Berkeley and had the privilege of taking his “Campaign and Media Messaging” course during my senior year. The class was one of the most informative and beneficial classes I had ever taken during my undergraduate curriculum, so I was extremely excited for Dan to come to CAUSE to give a brief lecture of some of the course’s material that would help with our cohort’s civic engagement project.
Dan taught us how to successfully create a campaign message, and as our team’s campaign manager, it was important for me to understand how to create a cohesive campaign theme. While learning how to craft a successful campaign message and theme, I really took Dan’s idea of “hanging a lantern on a problem” to heart.
I explored Dan’s idea of “hanging a lantern on the problem” - and applied it not only to politicians, but to my own life as a lesson. To “hang a lantern on a problem” means to shed one’s own light and opinion on something that he or she needs to work on. Rather than letting someone else point fingers at faults, to “hang a lantern” on a problem means to be vulnerable and to admit one’s own faults. Instead of painting mistakes as something to be ashamed and afraid of, it is viewing one’s mistake openly, with an honest and optimistic lense. Often, we see “scandals” in politics, where politicians are not honest about their pasts, and once their pasts do come out publicly, it causes a huge commotion in the media and could cost that person their entire campaign. But, as Dan suggests, when someone is willing to confront their past themselves, no one else can say anything about it - they are creating their own narrative around the problem, admitting and confronting their own faults, and turning seemingly hopeless situations into corrigible and even commendable ones.
At CAUSE, we’ve discussed and created our community agreements with each other, and one of them is to admit when a mistake has been made or when one does not know how to complete a task. I believe Dan’s sentiment of “hanging a lantern on the problem” is a great way to think and justify asking for help and it’s an idea I’d like to carry on with me throughout my career.
For me, it can be intimidating to admit I did something wrong, especially in a place of professional work. But, just like a politician, I can “hang a lantern on my problems” and be open and honest about my mistakes, which means I can be self aware enough to acknowledge and fix them.