Day 4
“Today was my last day in Iowa campaigning with Mikva Challenge students. Although I had a lot of fun, I am ready to go home.
This morning, I woke up with my roommates one last time, and I said my goodbyes. I will miss all the people I have met, and I hope I get to see them again some day.
After breakfast, I headed off to my last activity at Drake University. I had the opportunity to listen to speakers who discussed their time in politics. I enjoyed asking the speakers questions about their life experiences and how they got involved in politics.
As all of us students prepared to leave, I thought about how everyone was heading back to their homes with a lot more knowledge than we all arrived with. I had no idea that the political life was so complicated and time consuming. Candidates have to do everything possible to earn people’s votes. One of our speakers at Drake University said that when he was campaigning for himself, he knocked on thousands of doors so he could speak to people face-to-face. I found his story extremely impressive, especially considering the weather here in Iowa is freezing!
It’s almost time for us to drive to the airport. I know I will miss Iowa, especially the people I met during my time here. I have never done anything like this before, but meeting so many new people really helped open me up to the rest of the country. I’m glad I had the opportunity to learn more about politics and to witness presidential campaigns up close. I want to challenge other young people to be actively involved in the political process.
One thing I learned from talking with other Mikva youth was that education and funding for education is such an important issue. I have always known education is an important issue in my community of Coachella, but I learned a lot about how education is also important in communities across the county.
The phone calls, the canvasing, the selfies and the van rides were the best experiences for me. I am now inspired to go out and meet many more new people because I know I can learn more about life. This was an amazing experience for me, and I will never forget it.”
— Naomi Carrion
About the author:
Naomi Carrion is a senior at Nova Academy in Coachella, Calif. Naomi joined Coachella Uninc. this fall as an apprentice and she is excited to make a difference in her community through her writing. Naomi also enjoys art and math. She hopes to attend college next year to major in math. View Naomi’s author page here.
