ANNOUNCEMENTS & ADVERTISEMENTS · Summer 2026 · Torch: U.S.
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Student Advocacy Academy
The ILJCL Podcast was created as a way for our state JCL to get to know other states and learn what makes each state JCL unique! Our goal is to interview as many state JCLs as possible, so if your state hasn't appeared on our podcast yet, please reach out to me (at illinoisjcl2vp@gmail.com)! In addition to this goal, we have also expanded the podcast to include episodes interviewing former NJCL officers and the current NSCL officers. The podcast will still only be to interview current and former JCL and SCL officers. If you want to hear more about the experiences of JCL members and the Classics community in general, I recommend that you check out the Lux Classica podcast! I really enjoyed listening to their episodes, and I hope they continue making more because they are incredible!!!
I first got the idea for the podcast last summer. It was a week after NJCL convention. I met so many other state officers at the state officer mixer during Nats, and I decided that it would be really fun to get to know more about their states and also talk to all of them again. I first reached out to my now JCL Best Friend Edie Crow, the then Louisiana JCL President (current Louisiana SCL Secretary). She immediately said yes! I reached out to friends from Wisconsin, Indiana, and Texas next! Because of the way scheduling, we ended up interviewing Wisconsin first! The Louisiana episode was also filmed late last year but was released in late January due to editing issues. The filming and publishing process had a bit of a rocky start, but we now have gotten everything worked out and have been releasing episodes much more frequently!
We now have released 13 episodes: Wisconsin JCL, Louisiana JCL, Indiana JCL, Texas JCL, Former NJCL Parlis Alden Okoh-Aduako & Joe Giambrone, Former NJCL President Daniel Newgarden, Former NJCL Officers Reesey Lai (also current president) & Felix Chen, New Jersey JCL, Ohio JCL (split into 2 parts), Michigan JCL, NSCL board, and California JCL. By the time this article is released, we may have more episodes out! They are all available on YouTube, and some are also on our Spotify account, which we are trying to update to include every episode.
I am so grateful for all the people who have appeared on our podcast so far! If you have any ideas for how we could make the podcast better or would like to tell me your thoughts about the podcast or a particular episode, please feel free to email me!
If you have watched any episode, I would really appreciate it if you could fill out this feedback form, which also has some fun superlatives: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdiP_BYOK3Zk9V0nEIrqAliibwhLtg4aWYFPUE84vBuF7cAVA/viewform?usp=header.
Podcast guests are also encouraged to fill out this form!
Link to the podcast channel: https://youtube.com/@iljclapplicationsforoffice?si=NSxzJbT-IYfNMbpb.
Links to the highlighted episodes:
Wisconsin JCL: https://youtu.be/x9qNuJ3AX_w?si=rJIbOOh9XjIUE5Bf.
Texas JCL: https://youtu.be/t4CYeEqZMxc?si=dyDLny4hZJJJS2XV.
Reesey & Felix: https://youtu.be/scAd0-M6atU?si=cO_3oWmBlj0a4Vt3.
NSCL Board: https://youtu.be/FTK-chyYBcc?si=thKkaXjvagleIrT6.
Ohio JCL: https://youtu.be/U2wc3UmTBrw?si=d1UGszDpVODmN3Rj.
-Sarah Pati, ILJCL Second Vice President
JNCL-NCLIS (Joint National Committee For Languages - National Council For Languages And International Studies) works towards creating a world where there is a mutual understanding and acceptance of language and culture in addition to the ability to share information and ideas freely through them. In three different sessions, students can gain all the tools they need to be advocates for language education in the US at their Student Advocacy Academy. To be a part of the program apply using this link and to learn more about the program click here.
-Reesey Lai, NJCL President
ILJCL Podcast