During four intensive summer weeks, 28 students were exposed to the daily life of top political leaders (ministers and city mayors), acting as their political advisors. Real-life assignments were planned in cooperation with liaisons from the personal offices of these political leaders. The cases brought the hectic, complicated and uncertain life of political leaders into the classroom, and exposed students to the real world to an extent that they had never before experienced in a classroom. They were highly stimulated, were forced to cooperate, learned a great deal, and were reactivated as committed students of political science. The course was based on a mix of pedagogical elements to enhance student learning such as learning by doing, problem solving, critical reflection, student collaboration, prompt feedback, time on task and active learning and applies many of the recommendations of action-based and experiential learning theory.