At the beginning of this project, I was very unsure about my topic of choice. As much as I hate to say it, I do not keep very updated with politics or current events, and this made it very hard to choose a topic. However, I had heard a lot about the lack of participation of young voters in each election, but especially the midterms. This appealed to me because I, too, was considering choosing not to vote in the midterm elections. I felt that I was not educated enough about candidates or politics in general to attempt to contribute to the important decisions made when voting. It did not take long for this mindset to change after starting to research young voters in the midterms.
After five weeks of researching and writing long and short blog posts, I have learned so much about the process of voting and the efforts to both energize and restrict young voters this midterm. I learned about the many programs launched to encourage the younger generation to make it to the polling places, whether it is the issue of gun control, health care, college tuition, or environmental protection that motivates them.
At first I did not believe that there could be any type of polarization when it comes to the parties’ views on young voters, but I was soon shown that my belief was wrong. I read various articles about laws that restrict or make voting more difficult, especially voter ID laws that disproportionately affect young people, and those who vote Democratic. These laws are usually passed by Republican legislators, and prove that there is a divide between parties when it comes to young voters.
Most importantly, this project convinced me of the importance of voting. As someone who was not passionate about voting once, I have completely transformed my way of thinking in this regard. I now understand how lucky I am to have the right to vote for those that represent me and to be able to use my voice in the government. I will now use what I have learned about voting to encourage everyone I know, but especially my peers to vote every chance they get, because the only way to see change is by participating.
I have also observed changes in my writing over the last few weeks, as I have had to learn how to organize a lot of facts into a somewhat brief, but still informative, post. I have had to look at the problems facing my topic, analyze both sides, and be able to try to formulate a solution for the future. Most of all, I have learned how to pick words that carry the most significance in order to get my point across quickly and simply.
All in all, I faced several challenges, such as workload, sickness, and writer’s block, but I still enjoyed the chance to learn more about the midterm elections and I felt that this project helped me to grow as a writer.
Political Junkies 