Getting Involved

Q: We’ve heard that you’ve been involved in voter registration and local politics. Could you tell us more about that?

A: A really large part of my time right now is just spent trying to get young people to vote. I’ve been getting out and talking to people both online and in person by spending time out like on street corners, just trying to get as many people to vote.

Q: Why do you choose to participate in local politics?

A: I'm sure that every single person has heard the phrase “your vote matters.” But in my opinion, it goes beyond the social responsibility, more into a moral responsibility. If you see injustices in the world, you have a moral obligation to speak up against it, and try to create change for people who are impacted most. At the end of the day, your vote really does matter as much as that

phrase is repeated over and over. For local elections, voter turnout is only around 15%. So when someone casts a ballot for a city council representative or a mayor, these are people that will directly influence things like local social service spending, school boards, which ultimately decide educational policies. You're voting for mayors who decide things like budgets, and these are things that if you feel like they should be different, and you feel like they should be done better, then you have both an obligation and a right to create a future that you think would be better for you and the people around you. In my opinion, that's my greatest motivation.

Q: What are you looking forward to in college?

A: I'm just really looking forward to being around a really eclectic and interesting group of people with vastly different interests. Because, again,every single field and every single point of policy is interdisciplinary now. The people that I've met so far have been incredibly entrepreneurial, passionate people, and I'm looking forward to creating a startup or just anything with them.

Q: Do you see yourself pursuing politics or career in that field later on?

A: I'm keeping all the options pretty open. I'm not completely sure about what I'm going to do in the future, but I'm just really glad that rising into college, there's no real pressure for it.