Benjamin Goes ’19, Immersed in Education Projects, Expects the Law to Make Him More Effective

Benjamin Goes ’19 never intended to run for a position on his town’s school board in Guilderland, N.Y., particularly during his second year of law school. But the 21-year-old has strayed often from a conventional path.

He graduated from the University at Albany in two years, majoring in economics. His favorite law professor is Vincent Bonventre because he likes his style in the classroom. “He teaches classes just like I would: casually, expertly, and caringly.  It creates a level of comfort conducive to student participation. The class is engaging.”

He hopes to clerk for a judge when he graduates, though initially he thought little of the opportunity. “At first clerking didn’t sound like an exciting position. But after talking to Professor Bonventre and Dean Ouellette, I understand it more. They both say it’s a great experience and it seems like a great opportunity if I can get a position.” This summer, he’s working in the legal counsel office at the NYS Education Department, setting up new—and ensuring compliance of old—charter schools. 

As his first contribution as a member of the Board, Goes helped explain to the other Board members the difference between e-cigarettes and vaping.

Goes has kept his vision for the future wide open. “I would like to be productive, and I would like to continue to help people,” he said.

It is this motivation that landed him on the Guilderland Board of Education. In the past he attended Board meetings to help other students make change. At a recent meeting, he grew frustrated that the Board didn’t understand the students’ concerns, nor did they fully understand the issue before them. So he decided to put his name in the ring and provide a youthful voice for the Board.

As his first contribution as a member of the Board, Goes helped explain to the other Board members the difference between e-cigarettes and vaping. While he likes to say he is “an 80-year-old at heart,” he is glad that he lowers the average age of the Board to below 60. “I can give students a voice, which they didn’t have previously.”

Additionally, Goes helps run an enrichment program at Guilderland High School with two other teachers, called Exploring with Mindful Creativity and Curiosity (E=mc2).  Through the program, students are given an opportunity to select a topic of their choice and spend an entire year asking questions, thinking critically, and producing new arguments about that topic.  For Goes, the main goal of the program is just to put the students in charge of their own educational journey.  "The goal of the EMC2 program is to give students the freedom to learn what they want and develop their critical faculties.  The student is in charge of his or her experience; I'm really just there to help them get where they want to go.  For students to develop into thinking, creative human beings, their education must be individualized and voluntary.  EMC2 is an effort to give at least some students such an education," he said.