“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.

“Today was an extremely busy day. I woke up at 6:00 am, ate breakfast and headed to Senator Marco Rubio’s rally. When Senator Rubio arrived at the rally, everyone stood up and clapped like crazy. After his speech, he allowed audience members to ask questions then everyone surrounded Rubio to take photos and speak with the presidential candidate. I was lucky enough to get a selfie with Rubio before heading to his office to make phone calls.

Today, I also had the opportunity to walk around a Des Moines neighborhood and ask people about their opinion on Senator Marco Rubio. Part of my job was to report people’s answers to the campaign office through a phone app. The temperature was freezing outside! I was about 10 degrees but I survived! My door-knocking experience was fun, and people were kind even if they were not Rubio supporters.

After campaigning, I had the opportunity to visit a museum and learn more about the Iowa caucus. Everything was so exciting, but my day wasn’t over yet. I also had the opportunity to visit Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign office. It was nice to get a view of a Democrat’s office. After I visited Sanders’ office, our whole group traveled to Drake University to meet up with all the Mikva Challenge students for Youth Issues Summit.

During the Youth Issues Summit, all us Mikva youth formed groups where we were asked to give a presentation on different issues; my group’s issue was education. My group and I created at stop motion video to illustrate important education issues. It made me think of how important education is here in Iowa and also back home in the eastern Coachella Valley.

Today was such a busy day but I enjoyed every minute of it. Working as a team with other youth from across the country was my favorite part of the day because I saw how we could all work together even though we didn’t really know each other. Goodnight!”

— Naomi Carrion

“I started this morning by attending Senator Marco Rubio’s rally. I was eager to hear him speak on immigration. Immigration is such an important issue in the eastern Coachella Valley. Listening to him speak about his plan for immigration reform reminded my of people back home who are very concerned about what will happen when President Obama leaves office. I felt like this was my chance to get as much information about his policy so I can help people inform people back home.

After Rubio’s rally, I traveled back to Senator Ted Cruz’s campaign office. At the office, I again more phone calls to potential Cruz supporters. While at the campaign office, I got to participate in a barbeque where I listened to Cruz supporters speak about their grass root efforts in Iowa. While these Iowans were speaking, I thought about how much they reminded me of my neighbors in Coachella. It seems like these people really want to work with their neighbors to fix issues and find common ground.

Later in the day I toured Senator Bernie Sanders’ office and then I had a chance to attend a rally for Hillary Clinton. I was able to hear President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton speak on behalf of Hillary. I was a great opportunity to see how campaigns operate from both political parties. After the rallies, I headed to Drake University for a Youth Issues Summit.

At the summit, I participated in the group presenting on education. My team and I said that issues in Iowa, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Coachella can’t be solved if people don’t have access to a proper education.

After the summit, we all returned to our hotel to rest. After two and a half days of activity in Iowa, it’s almost time to say goodbye and pack up to go home.”

— Karla Martinez

About the authors: 

Karla Martinez has been a youth reporter with Coachella Unincorporated for two years, where she has produced numerous articles and reflections on issues like community violence prevention to voter registration. In April 2015, Karla won the Young Lady of the Year Award for Riverside County District 4 for her work with the Land Use Planning Awareness project. View Karla’s author page here.

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.

“Waking up in Iowa this morning was a surreal experience. I was excited for today because I knew I would find out which candidate’s campaign I would be working with for the rest of the weekend.  During breakfast, they revealed to us our assignments and I was chosen to work on Senator Ted Cruz’s campaign. Senator Cruz was my first choice and I was ecstatic to begin helping his campaign.

After we were assigned our candidates, all the students from Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Coachella came together to brainstorm questions we wanted to ask Iowa representatives at capitol. After speaking with the other youth, I noticed that my questions were very different than the questions from other students. I think coming from the eastern Coachella Valley and a rural community, I have a different perspective than the other students. But I was surprised by how we all agreed that it was our job to help prepare our country for the future no matter which political party we favor.

Today’s highlight was when I arrived at the Iowa State Capitol. I was fascinated by the building and the history. During our stay at the Capitol, I got to listen in on some key speakers in Supreme Court Chamber. The speakers were discussing the issue of education and school funding. Immediately, I thought of how these issues being discussed here in Iowa are also important to us in the eastern Coachella Valley. Even though I am far from my home right now, I am able to see how education is an important issue throughout the nation.

After our trip to the capitol, it was time to meet up with our assigned campaigns. Once I got to Cruz’s campaign office, I was given a crash course that I now call, “Cruz 101.” I was taught about questions people might ask me and soon enough I was making calls to people in Iowa. I enjoyed speaking with people about the future of America and I enjoyed talking to people who were educated about the candidate. It was, by far, the best part of my day. I have to admit I was very nervous at first, but by the end of time at the office, I had called 45 people in Iowa.”

— Karla Martinez

“I only slept for about three hours last night. But I can’t complain because my roommates were great and I enjoyed meeting new people.

After eating breakfast, we traveled to the Iowa State Capitol. While I was there, I got speak with two Iowa representatives, one Democrat and one Republican. I asked them what their views were on taxing the top one percent and the Democrat said she thought it was necessary but the Republican quickly opposed. It was a interesting to hear them debate their viewpoints and I’m glad I got to speak with very opinionated people about their views.

After talking with the representatives, I took a tour of the Capitol building. There was an amazingly large library and a beautiful ceiling. After the tour, we went out for lunch. Do you know how hard it is to travel with 140 kids on more than 30 vans?

Earlier in the day, I found out that I was assigned to work on Senator Marco Rubio’s campaign. At Rubio’s campaign office, I was asked to make phone calls. That was a very interesting experience because not everyone was for Rubio. Some people were nice and some were irritated but I understand that it is just part of the process.

This has been an amazing experience so far, but right now I am exhausted so I’m heading to bed early!”

— Naomi Carrion

About the authors: 

Karla Martinez has been a youth reporter with Coachella Unincorporated for two years, where she has produced numerous articles and reflections on issues like community violence prevention to voter registration. In April 2015, Karla won the Young Lady of the Year Award for Riverside County District 4 for her work with the Land Use Planning Awareness project. View Karla’s author page here.

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.