Getting Involved
by Julia Sant
Getting involved in a campaign was
not something I would have seen myself doing as a high school senior. But, on
November 8th, 2016, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States.
That, I can say, was something I NEVER saw coming. In the year that followed, I
felt myself getting angrier and angrier at the current political climate. When
my AP Government teacher assigned a project to the class called “Politics in
Action,” I was so excited. For nearly one year, I was angry without a medium to
channel that anger. Now was my chance to do something with those feelings
instead of just sitting on them. To satisfy the volunteer hours required for
the project, I participated in a phonebank at the Downers Grove Township
Democratic Organization, where an organizer mentioned that there was an
internship program with JB Pritzker’s campaign for governor. I submitted a
resumè, interviewed, and got the internship.
That
was in October, since then, I have made countless calls, knocked on more doors
than a kid on Halloween, and have learned so much about being an informed
voter. As an intern for JB Pritzker, my main job is making phone calls. I have
spoken to people who love JB and I have spoken to people who are not too fond
of him, but making these calls has taught me the importance of building a
foundation for a campaign. The people who invest so much time and energy into
an election are the people who are motivated to get things done and fight for
what they see as right and important. It has been so much fun getting to know
the people of Illinois and learning the process of getting someone
elected.
Everyone
in the office comes from different backgrounds with different levels of
experience in politics. It is really cool to see a group of such different
people can come together and do very similar things for one goal: to get the
candidate elected. Coming into this, my only political experience came from
watching Veep. Everyone swears, everyone jokes, but everyone also cares very
much about the outcome of the primary election on March 20th.
Being
able to have a direct impact on a political campaign is something that I can do
regardless of the fact that I am barely an adult. This past year has been
really hard for me to comprehend. As a student, I felt like there wasn’t
anything I could do. This internship has allowed me to channel that anger and
frustration into something productive that will benefit the citizens of
Illinois. I have used volunteering as an opportunity to learn what others have to say and
refine my political beliefs. By this I mean that I have gained insight as to
which issues mean the most to me, how to gauge a candidate's appreciation for
that issue, and what I can do to promote my those beliefs.
I never considered a career
in politics something that I would want to do, but being a part of this
campaign has shown me that there are many ways to get involved in politics.
Because of my internship, I know that I want to be a part of something that I
am passionate about, politically or otherwise.
I do see myself working on
campaigns like this in the future. This has been such a good experience for me
as a citizen and as a voter. Getting to knock on doors and communicate directly
with people in my community about issues that are important to me and that will
directly affect them has taught me so much about the importance of informed
voting. I will continue to do this work because it means that I can do my part
in “walking the walk” for what I believe in.
