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Memoir: "Girl In Progress with Politics"
By: Kiana Shaffer
A plain table sits in the middle of the hallway with a basic tablecloth draped over it and balloons surrounding it. There are papers spread everywhere. You can always find people around this table smiling, giving eye contact, pointing, and moving. It’s the voter registration table, and it can be found at Salt Lake Community College. It’s this table that has made the students apart of student life and leadership working hard. A girl is sitting there and she is having an epiphany, an outer body experience, a “aha moment”. A girl that hated politics and didn’t quite understand how to get involved was one of SLCC new senators in her sophomore year of college. This is my story of: a girl in progress with politics.
A plain table sits in the middle of the hallway with a basic tablecloth draped over it and balloons surrounding it. There are papers spread everywhere. You can always find people around this table smiling, giving eye contact, pointing, and moving. It’s the voter registration table, and it can be found at Salt Lake Community College. It’s this table that has made the students apart of student life and leadership working hard. A girl is sitting there and she is having an epiphany, an outer body experience, a “aha moment”. A girl that hated politics and didn’t quite understand how to get involved was one of SLCC new senators in her sophomore year of college. This is my story of: a girl in progress with politics.
“This picture is supposed to model the voter registration table at Salt Lake Community College”
When I graduated from high school in Meridian, Idaho I decided to have an adventure and move away from my family to a place where I knew no one, UTAH. After a year of finding a place to live, a roommate, and a great job I decided I needed to apply myself more in college and get involved. I decided to join student life and leadership, I was appointed as a senator and I was working and talking with students about issues they had. It was the first time I was a part of student government and I felt like my voice was being heard and I was making a difference, I enjoyed it.
Our first big project of the year was to go around and ask students if they were registered to vote. Asking this question was like asking a cat to take a bath; students would recognize you and your clipboard from a mile away and change their path just to avoid you and that question. Not everyone avoided us when we went around asking people to register. I remember one student in particular that was excited that these resources were available at the college, and to also have the opportunity to talk about politics among his fellow students. The truth is that I hadn’t registered to vote until I had to do this project. I felt like I had to do it just because I didn’t want anyone to call me out for not being registered, and because I had to become a resident of Utah. None of those are good reasons and I started to wonder why this question had so many people uninterested, feeling guilty, and simply not caring?
But just take a look at this chart on the next page:
When I graduated from high school in Meridian, Idaho I decided to have an adventure and move away from my family to a place where I knew no one, UTAH. After a year of finding a place to live, a roommate, and a great job I decided I needed to apply myself more in college and get involved. I decided to join student life and leadership, I was appointed as a senator and I was working and talking with students about issues they had. It was the first time I was a part of student government and I felt like my voice was being heard and I was making a difference, I enjoyed it.
Our first big project of the year was to go around and ask students if they were registered to vote. Asking this question was like asking a cat to take a bath; students would recognize you and your clipboard from a mile away and change their path just to avoid you and that question. Not everyone avoided us when we went around asking people to register. I remember one student in particular that was excited that these resources were available at the college, and to also have the opportunity to talk about politics among his fellow students. The truth is that I hadn’t registered to vote until I had to do this project. I felt like I had to do it just because I didn’t want anyone to call me out for not being registered, and because I had to become a resident of Utah. None of those are good reasons and I started to wonder why this question had so many people uninterested, feeling guilty, and simply not caring?
But just take a look at this chart on the next page:
Numerical data used in “Voter Participation in Presidential Election Years” and “Eligible Voter
In 1960 there was a 78% voter turnout based on the population of Utah, that was 52 years ago and slowly it has gone down, with the exception of a few years. But our population has increased over the years, so shouldn’t voter registration and voter turnout go up? I sure don’t have all the answers and either does this data it just doesn’t make sense to me. I believe that not only does this graph give us evidence of voters over the years but a question I have come up with, is that what kind of message is this sending to future generations? What will it be like when our kids when they are old enough to vote? Will the government have changed? I think it’s time we started discussing it more in school, watch the debates, be allowed to discuss issues, and pose questions that are teachers can answer without being biases. I feel it’s time that voting registration and uneducated voters is an issue of importance.
Not discussing this issue is what I believe is creating uneducated voters and why nothing in our country is changing. Denise Oliver Velez from Daily Kos shares her viewpoint on voting and she sides with the idea of compulsory voting. This is a theory that ultimately forces citizens to vote, if they don’t they could be fined or have to do community service. Velez says that “it would ease the intense partisan polarization that weakens our capacity for self-government and public trust in our governing institutions” (Velez, para 2). I appreciate a viewpoint like this because it does appear to be a way to “hand back the government to we the people” (Velez, para 6). But when we look at how to improve voter turnout, is forcing it and putting more restrictions on it going to solve this?
Salt Lake Community College has a very diverse student population and asking if people if there registered to vote, and them saying they can’t because they are not a legal citizen, made me feel awkward because there was nothing for me to do to help the situation. I believe already that college students, the disabled, and the poor have a hard time trying to register to vote because they cannot get the proper documentation or proof of id. Not saying these aren’t important things to have but voting to me translates to the peoples voice and decision. We need to explore our options and go above and beyond to find the voters in the shadows.
In 1960 there was a 78% voter turnout based on the population of Utah, that was 52 years ago and slowly it has gone down, with the exception of a few years. But our population has increased over the years, so shouldn’t voter registration and voter turnout go up? I sure don’t have all the answers and either does this data it just doesn’t make sense to me. I believe that not only does this graph give us evidence of voters over the years but a question I have come up with, is that what kind of message is this sending to future generations? What will it be like when our kids when they are old enough to vote? Will the government have changed? I think it’s time we started discussing it more in school, watch the debates, be allowed to discuss issues, and pose questions that are teachers can answer without being biases. I feel it’s time that voting registration and uneducated voters is an issue of importance.
Not discussing this issue is what I believe is creating uneducated voters and why nothing in our country is changing. Denise Oliver Velez from Daily Kos shares her viewpoint on voting and she sides with the idea of compulsory voting. This is a theory that ultimately forces citizens to vote, if they don’t they could be fined or have to do community service. Velez says that “it would ease the intense partisan polarization that weakens our capacity for self-government and public trust in our governing institutions” (Velez, para 2). I appreciate a viewpoint like this because it does appear to be a way to “hand back the government to we the people” (Velez, para 6). But when we look at how to improve voter turnout, is forcing it and putting more restrictions on it going to solve this?
Salt Lake Community College has a very diverse student population and asking if people if there registered to vote, and them saying they can’t because they are not a legal citizen, made me feel awkward because there was nothing for me to do to help the situation. I believe already that college students, the disabled, and the poor have a hard time trying to register to vote because they cannot get the proper documentation or proof of id. Not saying these aren’t important things to have but voting to me translates to the peoples voice and decision. We need to explore our options and go above and beyond to find the voters in the shadows.
“This picture represents me asking the question over and over, and the essence of voting”
Besides registering to vote and showing up for the big day how do we know who to vote for? I like how my government teacher put two sides on the board and a list of things those parties believed in and whichever you agreed with more on was the party you supported. Or maybe you chose that party because your parents told you that’s what you were. That’s basically the career of my political viewpoint but it just doesn’t seem like enough for a girl to decide. I mean shouldn’t it be whoever is most qualified? Not which party they represent, because in this divided nation it’s hard to pick the correct side. What is even the definition of these parties? Well on ASK.com one girl comments that a Republican is someone who “aren't as eager for reform or change, and believe that the system shouldn't be tinkered with, and that government should remain small and out of the picture” (2011). And a Democrat is someone who “believes the past was flawed and look more toward a future of change and innovation, usually involving more government action and assistance” (2011). While I like these definitions, I think that her opinion is biased against one party or the other. In this day and age technology has showed us political viewpoints on Facebook, twitter, and the advertisements on TV, so which one do we trust? Go to? Or is a political viewpoint collected over time based on a lot of different sources. The point is that we need one, and we need to do our homework so were not uneducated voters. So come that day we can make the right decision for the future generation to come.
It’s hard to narrow it down to one crucial message but I do know that every day I’m learning something about the political race and that I’m going to vote this coming November because my vote does count. That day at the table I realized why I was there, it was meant to be, I knew something needed to change with myself and I had the power to change others around me. While we stumble around trying to figure out what we want to be I know that I want to change the world or someone’s life, you just need to apply yourself in school and get involved in everything or else later down the road I promise you, you will regret it. Let’s change the meaning of a divided nation and restore the responsibility of the government to “we the people”. I don’t know everything when it comes to voting but after talking to students about voting, I realized it is a problem and it should be addressed. This is my story of the girl in progress, and every day I’m striving to be a better citizen, and I may not know who I’m voting for but at least I’m is in the right place.
The voting registration table.
Word Count: 1521
Besides registering to vote and showing up for the big day how do we know who to vote for? I like how my government teacher put two sides on the board and a list of things those parties believed in and whichever you agreed with more on was the party you supported. Or maybe you chose that party because your parents told you that’s what you were. That’s basically the career of my political viewpoint but it just doesn’t seem like enough for a girl to decide. I mean shouldn’t it be whoever is most qualified? Not which party they represent, because in this divided nation it’s hard to pick the correct side. What is even the definition of these parties? Well on ASK.com one girl comments that a Republican is someone who “aren't as eager for reform or change, and believe that the system shouldn't be tinkered with, and that government should remain small and out of the picture” (2011). And a Democrat is someone who “believes the past was flawed and look more toward a future of change and innovation, usually involving more government action and assistance” (2011). While I like these definitions, I think that her opinion is biased against one party or the other. In this day and age technology has showed us political viewpoints on Facebook, twitter, and the advertisements on TV, so which one do we trust? Go to? Or is a political viewpoint collected over time based on a lot of different sources. The point is that we need one, and we need to do our homework so were not uneducated voters. So come that day we can make the right decision for the future generation to come.
It’s hard to narrow it down to one crucial message but I do know that every day I’m learning something about the political race and that I’m going to vote this coming November because my vote does count. That day at the table I realized why I was there, it was meant to be, I knew something needed to change with myself and I had the power to change others around me. While we stumble around trying to figure out what we want to be I know that I want to change the world or someone’s life, you just need to apply yourself in school and get involved in everything or else later down the road I promise you, you will regret it. Let’s change the meaning of a divided nation and restore the responsibility of the government to “we the people”. I don’t know everything when it comes to voting but after talking to students about voting, I realized it is a problem and it should be addressed. This is my story of the girl in progress, and every day I’m striving to be a better citizen, and I may not know who I’m voting for but at least I’m is in the right place.
The voting registration table.
Word Count: 1521